Sunday, May 24, 2009

My Town Monday: Farmers' Market



Last Wednesday, Child #4 and I dropped off Child #2 and then Child #3 at swim practice. We decided we'd had enough of multiplication times tables and Accelerated Reader points and third grade homework in general.

So, we threw caution to the wind and headed to a farmers' market IN THE MIDDLE OF THE SCHOOL WEEK.

Child #4 scopes out the wares.

Yes, we were the gutsy mother-daughter duo wandering the stalls and scooping up samples while the backpack languished on the floor of our van.

We ended up buying tomatoes (grown near the Carlsbad Flower Fields), smoked tuna and smoked sea bass fished from our own harbor and jam (canned down the street from the Dennys where I meet with my critique group).

Of course, we chatted with everyone and met someone who used to be neighbors with Nicholas Sparks' childhood buddy. We heard of a nearby restaurant which only serves organic food grown/raised locally (possible fodder for a MTM post). We learned the names of several flowers used in the bouquets.

And to round off today's MTM post, here's a little trivia about farmers' markets:

-Before his fatal auto crash on Sept. 30, 1955, people believe James Dean ate breakfast at the farmers market located at Third and Fairfax in L.A.

-There are over 500 farmers' markets each year in California. Eighty of them are in Los Angeles.

-Farmers' markets can be found on several college campuses including University of Southern California, University of California Davis, UC Santa Cruz, UC San Diego, Stanford, Harvard, Brown, Portland State, the University of Minnesota, the University of Maine and the University of Arizona.

Please pop over to Travis Erwin's blog. He's our Fearless Leader for My Town Mondays. Along with his own MTM post, he'll have a list of participants.


sources:
http://www.farmersmarketla.com/history/marketfacts.html
http://articles.latimes.com/2006/may/24/food/fo-farmer24
http://www.latimes.com/features/food/la-fo-collegemarkets4-2009mar04,0,1822524.story

21 comments:

  1. Me too. We have a great one in New Orleans, though I haven't been in a while.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Playing hooky – a brilliant plan.
    People always “ohh and awe” over the fresh fruit and vegetables at farmers’ markets – my best memories (as a child) were the fudge, apple-butter, cookies and pies!

    ReplyDelete
  3. sounds like a fun day for you and the little one. We don't have a farmers market here,we used to grow a fairly good sized garden but Mr. J and I have reached the point we're tired of that. We grow some tomatoes and squash still. The neighbors are awful generous. those with more ground are happy to share so we usually have more than enough fresh during the growing season.

    Glad your posting again, how's the book coming?

    ReplyDelete
  4. the markets will be starting here soon in NE OH. we are already eating greens and spring onions from our garden. I am a planting fiend today!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Our farmers market opens soon but this area is much more in to ranching than farming.

    ReplyDelete
  6. I haven't been to a farmers' market, I'll make it a goal to go soon.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kaye: I'll let you know about the book on Wednesday which is when I get it back for revisions! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Love those farmer's markets but we have no local produce until August!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Sounds like a day well-spent. I love Farmers' Markets. My favorites are the Pike Place Market in Seattle and the Shihlin Night Market in Taipei.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Our local Farmer's Market is something I look forward to!!!

    I love it. We have so many Amish people that contribute to several of our farmer's markets- so there are amazing baked goods available as well!

    ReplyDelete
  11. We have a farmer's market here on Thurs. but I haven't been to it. I need to go!

    ReplyDelete
  12. I'm so jealous! I haven't been to a farmer's market in so long! We don't really grow much of anything in Vegas!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Hi Barrie,

    While I miss the farmer's markets, and the fromageries (and the boulangeries and the charcuteries ohh, I'd better stop, mein Bauch is growling) of France and Switzerland, we recently came upon a farmer's market here in Hong Kong. And of course there are the wet markets and the regular street markets.

    I'm a food guy; I love my fresh, local markets.

    Fun post, Barrie.

    Thanks.

    Tschuess,
    Chris

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ah, even better when they're mid-week!

    ReplyDelete
  15. I've said it over and over again, but I WISH we had a famer's market here. I would so love to go to one and buy all those fresh goodies!

    ReplyDelete
  16. We just went to the Farmer's Market in Dallas two weekends ago. Love that place! I never know what I'm going to find :-)

    ReplyDelete
  17. I wish I had a farmer's market close by. You're so lucky!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Farmer's Markets are the perfect place to relax and munch to one's heart's content. Great post, Barrie.

    ReplyDelete

Comments are always welcome!