In appreciation of local farmer's markets.

epcotisbest

We are blessed to have two different, small farmer's markets within a three mile drive of the house and this time of the year we take advantage of the bounty. One is open on Tuesday and Thursday evening, the other on Wednesday and Saturday morning, so it is very easy to drop by and pick stuff up fresh.
Now, these farmer's markets are really just some local old-timers selling their goods from the back of their trucks, nothing fancy, but it is hard to get stuff much fresher or at a more reasonable price. 
Tonight I made some grilled thighs served with grilled corn, fried cabbage, marinated cucumbers and freshly sliced tomatoes. The squash and green beans I bought will be for tomorrow. 
Do you take advantage of your local farmer's markets?

pgprescott

Awesome!!!

Botch

Ogden's having a big fight now, our Saturday-morning FM is being invaded by corporate farms from out of state, making "campaign donations" to muscle out the locals for best spots, etc.  
Is nothing safe from f*cking greed anymore?  

Prowe

Went to my a FM for the second time in my life Monday.  Also second time in the span of a week.  Nice to have one near by. Where I used to live not so much.

Botch

Guys, I'm sorry.  I LOVE farmer's markets and because of a bad day I dumped a bunch of negativity here; I'm sorry.  

epcotisbest

Botch said:

Guys, I'm sorry.  I LOVE farmer's markets and because of a bad day I dumped a bunch of negativity here; I'm sorry.  

It's all good. We live in a small town so far up in the woods we don't get the 6 o'clock news until 7:30. Don't have to worry about corporate farms having any interest in coming here, but it is an hours drive to the closest Costco. Seems like a fair trade off.

northGAcock

We have one every Saturday on main street in Columbia. Three blocks long on both sides. Not only are there fresh produce, but many other local artist, craftsman and baked items. Buy local every time you can. 

bikesAndBBQ

We love our farmer's market and gladly pay more to support the small guys. 

Focker

Nice post.
Aside from Des Moines, Davenport, IA's Freight House Farmer's Market along the River, is the second best in the state.
I've been to Des Moines', it's in a league of its own, so awesome....but they bring it at the Freight House. 

YEMTrey

I live smack dab between these two wonderful places. Plus have a great local butcher and a family owned fresh produce store in the neighborhood.  Don't buy my meat and produce anywhere else.

http://www.findlaymarket.org/

http://junglejims.com/

Nothing better than a Saturday morning stroll through Findlay Market for groceries.

Eggcelsior

I have a bunch of FM around me, as well as farms with store fronts. Plus orchards. I get my milk delivered from a local farm as well.

epcotisbest

I agree. Hard to beat the local farmers, both in quality and price.

ChrisgrillsSTLMO

We have a FM that is 8 blocks of our house that is open Sat. mornings from May - Oct. that provides fresh veggies and other "organic" options (soap, coffee, eggs, and dipping sauces) depending on who is there. The produce is so fresh and inexpensive that we try to buy for the entire week. We have our favorite vendors/farmers that we buy from but we try to support someone new each week. The flavors of fresh produce cooked on the Egg is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

Cheers,

epcotisbest

ChrisgrillsSTLMO said:

We have a FM that is 8 blocks of our house that is open Sat. mornings from May - Oct. that provides fresh veggies and other "organic" options (soap, coffee, eggs, and dipping sauces) depending on who is there. The produce is so fresh and inexpensive that we try to buy for the entire week. We have our favorite vendors/farmers that we buy from but we try to support someone new each week. The flavors of fresh produce cooked on the Egg is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.

Cheers,

We do the same thing on a smaller scale, trying to buy from different farmers each visit, or if there are only a few guys there we will buy tomatoes from one, squash from another, corn from another etc...
The hope is all will feel their efforts are worth it and they will return, making for more choices for everyone.

gdenby

I guess I was sort of lucky growing up where I did. There's always been a farmer's market. Used to be 2, but the much smaller one closed down in the early 60s. It has been around for over 100 years, w. the current association of members operating the building since the early 70's after a fire required rebuilding.

Yes, the prices tend to be rather high. But the quality and variety also tends to be higher.  Its a pretty large place, about 150 stalls. Not just produce. Meat, baked goods, a cafe and other food stalls. Crafts, antiques, etc. The main down side is some days its so jammed that walking from one end to the other takes 1/2 hour.

Also lucky to have an orchard about 5 miles away, and a friend's nephew been running an ever larger farm stand for the last 25 years about the same distance away. Sweet corn 10 minutes from being taken from the stalk!

YukonRon

Ours is 3 blocks away. We have another 1 mile away. Life is good.

Shiff

One of the reasons we retired to Lancaster, PA, was the number of farmer's markets in the area.  The biggest ones are open all year.  Off season, they don't have local produce so they carry trucked in produce which is better quality than the local supermarkets since it is handled less.  The prices are always lower than the supermarkets and they have a great selection of fresh meats as well as produce.  There are also numerous farm stands during the growing season, so availability of fresh products is excellent here.

THEBuckeye

Yep, went to the one yesterday afternoon. Market Square, New Albany, OH.

fishlessman

local corn sign went up this week, pretty much just eating corn this weekend. fresh corn is not a side, its the meal, butter would be the side

epcotisbest

YukonRon said:

Ours is 3 blocks away. We have another 1 mile away. Life is good.

Made even better by an abundance of fresh produce.

JohnnyTarheel

We have great ones here in Charlotte.... Always great to get good fresh produce

epcotisbest

There is a small dairy about an hours drive away where we sometimes go for fresh milk, butter and ice cream. Worth the drive.

Dredger

We're very lucky to have the Travelers Rest Farmers Market about 10 minutes away. http://travelersrestfarmersmarket.com/ Great vendors, live music, food trucks and a view of the mountains. Our grass-fed beef guy brings our order with him to the market so we don't have to drive to his store. Very convenient. We also have a very large farm about 10 minutes from our house with fantastic veggies. Can't say enough good things about buying local.

epcotisbest

Dredger said:

We're very lucky to have the Travelers Rest Farmers Market about 10 minutes away. http://travelersrestfarmersmarket.com/ Great vendors, live music, food trucks and a view of the mountains. Our grass-fed beef guy brings our order with him to the market so we don't have to drive to his store. Very convenient. We also have a very large farm about 10 minutes from our house with fantastic veggies. Can't say enough good things about buying local.

Your's seems a little nicer than ours.

epcotisbest

In honor of Friday night, should this have been farmers (plural) instead of farmer's (possesive)?

bikesAndBBQ

Probably should've been plural possessive so farmers'. If they were talking about a single farmer being at the market then farmer's was correct. 

epcotisbest

bikesAndBBQ said:

Probably should've been plural possessive so farmers'. If they were talking about a single farmer being at the market then farmer's was correct. 

I think you are right as there are multiple farmers at the market.
Now if there was a market and it was owned my a Mr. Farmer, then Farmer's Market would be the way to go.

johnnyp

I'd crush a plate 

Dredger

Your's seems a little nicer than ours.

Too funny @epcotisbest. Actually, we have a few of those around here too.

epcotisbest

@Dredger yeah, I thought that pic was funny. I went to our actual local farmers market very early this morning, before the sun came up. It is nice getting there early as the locals are setting up. You get the literal pick of the crop that early. Some really nice tomatoes, squash, cucumbers and corn today.

Dredger

I hear ya @epcotisbest. We went to ours this morning and the farm, but it wasn't before the sun came up. Ours gets sold out pretty quickly too. Early bird gets the really good stuff.