Saturday was the first chance we have had to visit our favorite Farmers’ Market. We’ve been pretty busy since Spring finally sprung. This particular farmers’ market has a very wide variety of produce from local farms in our area. It is still early in the season, but the produce selection is coming along nicely.
Here are some of the things we purchased from the Farmers’ Market:
ZUCCHINI – I made a really delicious ZUCCHINI GRATIN last night that I will share with you next Monday for Meatless Monday…
FRESH EGGS – These beauties pretty much speak for themselves. Nothing beats a farm-fresh egg. Nothing.
SHIITAKE MUSHROOMS – The one item we missed the most this winter when the farmers’ market was not open were these delicious Shiitake mushrooms from Oak Shade Farm. I put some in the zucchini gratin and I will be using the rest for an all-new recipe that I have come up with. Stay tuned to see how that turns out!
RHUBARB – If curiosity kills the cat then I have used up all 9 lives on rhubarb (Sorry for the cat reference, Your Royal Highness!). I keep seeing all these wonderful dishes using rhubarb and I purchased some. I mixed them with some fresh strawberries and made a wonderful RHUBARB STRAWBERRY CRISP. I will be sharing that recipe soon also.
SQUASH BLOSSOMS – I was shocked when I saw some little containers filled with squash blossoms sitting on a table at one of the stands. I have seen these on The Food Network and Cooking Channel TV, but never thought I would get to try them for myself. I scooped these bad boys right up and took them over to purchase.
The man selling the blossoms said that he has a lot of requests for squash blossoms by restaurants in the DC area. I and my foodie self were so extremely excited to go home and see about dropping these in some hot grease! Stay tuned tomorrow for my blog posting about FRIED SQUASH BLOSSOMS Stuffed With Cheese.
DARK HOLLOW FARM – We really didn’t prepare well, before going to the farmers’ market, and ran out of cash. Not all the stands accepted plastic. That was our cue to leave.
On our way home, we passed by a building that once was used by our local orchard. I thought a motorcycle shop had taken it over, but we saw signs about pork and fresh strawberries. As we rode past, I made David turn around and go back. It didn’t look like the building was a motorcycle shop any longer.
We were surprised to learn that Dark Hollow Farm (now closed – 1/2017) is now leasing the building to sell their farm-raised pork and other wonderful goods. We purchased some strawberries to go with the rhubarb and some fresh pork bacon. We will be returning in the near future. If you are in the area you should check them out! Don’t forget to try their Ish.
As you can see, I have been inspired by the local Farmers’ Market goodies we purchase. That trip was just what this burned out foodie needed to kick-start more adventures in the kitchen. I highly encourage you to visit your local farmers’ market. Even if you do not like to cook that much, I am sure something there will inspire you.
I have some pretty exciting stuff to share with you so stay tuned…
Hayley says
What a lovely read and great photos too! I miss farmers markets as there aren’t really any farms here in Singapore so most of our produce is imported 🙁
Debbie Spivey says
Thank you! I’m a little surprised by the lack of produce in Singapore. Hope you can at least find what you want when you need it.
Hayley says
We do get a lot of produce in the supermarket it is just quite pricey because of the import taxes, unfortunately it’s the same with wine!