Farmers Markets

The first asparagus of the season was for sale at the U District Farmers' Market today. And I saw a woman with three or four gorgeous stalks of rhubarb sticking out of her shopping bag. You know what this means, right? Almost summer!

In my quest to eat local, organic, yummy food, I have become a frequent farmers' market shopper. I'm starting to mark time by what farmers' market vendors have available. For example, right now we are transitioning from potatoes, beets, and parsnips to leafy greens, peas, carrots, and leeks. Strawberry season follows -- meaning it's time for my famous strawberry-rhubarb crisp! Summertime brings tomatoes, hot and sweet peppers, oodles and oodles of zucchini, and peaches. And then we go through another leafy green season before we return to the time of winter squash and potatoes. The circle is complete.

As we transition to summer (and summer veggies) in Seattle, all kinds of musicians start appearing at Seattle-area farmers' markets. Today, I listened to a couple of wonderfully twangy groups at the U District Farmers Markets, and a guy who was singing songs he had written in his VW Van. It was a very Seattle moment. There will be more of these Seattle moments as the summer goes on -- my two favorite farmers markets (Wallingford and Phinney Ridge) are set to start up around Memorial Day, and they both have live music.

Why those two farmers markets over all the others? Well, they're a bit smaller than the ones in Ballard and the U District. The prices seem to be a little lower. Because these are smaller markets, the vendors are more likely to recognize me -- which means more free zucchini! (Last summer, one of the vendors gave me free zucchini because I was a frequent customer. It was yummy.)

Today, I purchased my first locally grown organic pork chop. I don't eat a lot of meat -- I came of age as a cook during a time when I was a vegetarian, and I don't know how to cook a lot of it. I have since abandoned vegetarianism -- I kept getting sick, and I'm honestly a lot healthier now that I eat meat again. (And what can I say -- hamburgers are really good.) Anyway, I bought my first locally grown pork chop today. I'm really looking forward to eating it tomorrow.

I'm attempting to locally source at least half of my diet. A sign at the farmers market said today that the average piece of produce purchased at a farmers market travels 67 miles, while the average piece of produce purchased at the grocery store travels over 1000 miles. Eating locally means that it takes less gas for my veggies to get from a farm to my table. And for me, it also tastes better. This summer, I challenge all of you readers to go find your local farmers market and taste a tomato. You'll thank me later.

For a potluck tonight, I am making homemade pizza. I'm going to attempt to make my own pizza dough and tomato sauce, using tomatoes I canned and froze last summer. My pizza will be topped with locally grown onions, mushrooms and local mozzarella. I will also put olives and bell pepper (I ran out of my frozen ones) on top too. It should be super tasty.

OK -- back to listening to Josh Ritter and attempting to do homework.