New friendships and relationships are right at your fingertip when you become a regular visitor to your local farmers market! As you meander your way around your local market don’t just admire the produce, make conversation with the local farmers from your community. You will be making an invaluable investment to your community when you do so! If you are like me, you want to support the business of your neighbors next door. When we buy from local farms we make an investment in the tax base in our own town. Purchasing locally grown foods benefits our local community, thus making it sustainable.
Visiting your local farmers markets can broaden your horizons in several ways. You may make a new friend with a local farmer, gain new knowledge about produce you may not have seen or tasted before and you may learn to make a new dish, thus expanding your culinary repertoire. Here are some ideas to make your next visit more rewarding:
1. Know what is in season. This week look for peas, cherries, blueberries (because of the early and abundant spring rain and warm temperatures blueberries are ready a few weeks earlier this summer), beans, lettuce, radishes and perhaps strawberries.
2. Decide which of the “in season” produce your family most enjoys. Also consider trying one that you have yet to eat and be willing to give it a try.
3. If you are not an experienced cook, before leaving home, select a recipe using the produce you have decided to purchase and prepare a list of the ingredients you will need.
4. When at the market here is your chance to have a conversation with the local farmers. Ask for their help, suggestions, recipe idea etc. Just enjoy yourself.
5. Once you have made your purchases and brought your produce home, keep it fresh.
a. Spinach, salad greens etc should be washed, patted dry and kept in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.
b. Berries should not be washed until you are ready to eat them, as prewashing will encourage mold and spoil the fruit faster.
c. If the fruit you purchased seems very ripe, eat it immediately or keep in refrigerator to slow down the ripening process. Note that some fruit, like peaches, will not fare well in the refrigerator, which causes them to become mealy. Leave them on the counter for best results.
6. If you end up purchasing more than you can immediately use or just want to preserve summer’s bounty for those cold winter months:
a. Preserve berries by making jams and jellies.
b. Freeze berries by laying them in a single layer on a cookie tray. When berries have frozen place them in a zip lock freezer bag, return berries to the freezer to be enjoyed in the cold winter months.
c. Preserve stone fruit, like peaches and nectarines, by canning or freezing them. If you have never canned before and would like to learn how, contact your local Extension office for a class near you.
http://www.csrees.usda.gov/Extension
http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/index.html
d. Share your purchase with a friend!
e. If time just escapes you and your produce spoils before you are able to eat it, then by all means- Compost it! Don’t have a compost bin? Start one. Check out this site to get you started. http://eartheasy.com/grow_compost.html
7. Add a few new cookbooks or cooking magazines to your library to keep meals fresh and exciting for your family. Some of my favorites include:
a. Simply in Season by Mary Beth Lind and Cathleen Hockman-Wert http://store.mpn.net/productdetails.cfm?PC=1298
b. Eating Well magazine http://www.eatingwell.com
c. Cooking Light magazine http://www.cookinglight.com
Enjoy this wonderful food season!
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