I just love this time of year. Everywhere you look there are amazing things at the farmer's market - apricots, white peaches and nectarines, blackberries and blueberries, sweet corn, the first of the heirloom tomatoes, sweet onions, zucchini galore, cucumbers, green peppers, cauliflower - it's hard to think when confronted with all of these delights!
I've missed the last few weeks of farmers markets, so I was going to set out early this morning. When my alarm sounded at 7:30, I lay there, pondering hitting snooze, when a giant clap of thunder sounded; that being a bit of an answer, I snuggled into the covers with a few cats and promptly went right back to sleep.
I love this sort of weather, especially in the middle of the summer. While the days drag on and on when like this in the wintertime, I love it when it's warm and rainy. Except for the fact that I don't own an umbrella currently.
Before I get into the market report, here's a funny story. Frequently on Saturday mornings I go to the drive-through at the bank and then directly across the street to Crimson Cup for my latte (another thing I love about this weather in the summertime - hot coffe). This morning I went through the drive through, had my money out, and arrived to the pickup window. Without having stopped at the order window. I pulled up and handed my money over; the barista had a surprised look on his face and I suddenly realized my error! I missed the whole ordering part! I said! Clearly I need some coffee! We both had a good laugh and, after ordering, I was on my way, latte in hand.
Sadly, that's kind of par for the course for me sometimes.
At any rate, I finally rolled into the Worthington around 10am, crossing my fingers for some white necarines, my favorite fruit ever (well, in July and August, anyway). For this reason I headed directly to Gillogly Orchards, where I scooped up not just 2 quarts of white nectarines (top of post) but some apricots as well! It's rare to find good apricots - anywhere, let alone locally - but these seem to be pretty good this year. The flesh was firm and they are just lovely with their subtle blush:
I stopped by 2 Crows farm, seeing what I thought were black currants; they ended up being garden huckleberries, but I bought them anyway. I can't say they are necessarily the most delicious berry I've ever eated raw, but after some research it seems they are good when cooked with a good bit of sugar, which I am trying even as I write.
I was happy to see lots of peppers at the market; they are still green this time of year (and with this weather) but I picked up quite a few at Wenger Produce for snacking and maybe pickle-making. I'm really hoping to make some hot pickle relish this year, so that I can make it exactly to my specifications (lots of cauliflower and carrots, with some hot peppers thrown in for good measure). From Wenger I also snagged some zucchini and cucumbers.
I bought my first heirloom tomatoes of the year, some Sungold cherry tomatoes from I think Yoder farms. Boy those things are amazingly delicious.
I stopped off at Saum's for some bi-color sweet corn and then grabbed a bouquet of sunflowers from Sundog to take to work with me.
Well, after all that writing about yummy fruits and vegetables, I think I'm ready for some lunch!
So, what did you get this week?
