Saturday: downed trees and paper bags of fruit

Saturday Shopping List

1 pint sweet cherries
1 pint blueberries
1 pint apricots
2 quarts green peas
2 quarts green beans (and yellow green beans)
1 pint shiitake mushrooms
1 portobello cap
2 giant orange carrots
1 bunch small multi-colored carrots with greens
1 bunch kale
2 heads buttercrunch lettuce
2 bunches broccoli
5 tomatoes
2 big white potatoes
3 red potatoes
and one 16-oz. iced coffee

Total: $38.85



Roasted some squash, green beans, and shiitakes with salt, pepper, and fennel seeds. It was very strong and savory. Kind of chewy.

I have a raw vegetable and fruit snack buffet on my refrigerator door right now. Been snacking all day on cherries, blueberries, apricots, green peas, green beans.


I found the park severely wind damaged this morning.

Saturday Market in cell phone pictures

Saturday Shopping List

1 lb chickpeas (dried)
2 quarts green peas (fresh)
4 summer squash
2 green zucchini
1 golden zucchini
5 tomatoes
6 sweet onions
2 fat carrots
1 bunch broccoli
1 huge bunch kale (green/purple leaf)
2 heads buttercrunch (green) lettuce
5 stalks rhubarb
4 sweet potatoes
5 white potatoes
1 pint shitaake mushrooms
1 quart strawberries
1 quart cherries
and a 16 oz cup of iced coffee

Total: about $47

The coffee shop across the street set up a stand selling iced coffee. Smart them.

Still no sweet corn, and asparagus appears to be finished. Plenty of berries out now.

I saw a three-year-old girl eat her first blueberry. Her mother was looking for fruit for her, asked if she could try a blueberry because she had never had one. The baby ate the blueberry, paused for a moment, grinned and reached up to the table for another blueberry. "We have a winner," her mom said, and bought a quart.

Last week, the fridge was on the fritz and a bunch of our food wilted. :( That happened shortly after last week's market. I've eaten way too much noodle soup this week.

I'm looking forward to roasting shitaake mushrooms with sweet potatoes, squash and fennel seeds. And juicing some of this kale with those giant orange carrots. Got a loaf of bread last night, so mushroom/vinegar, tomato, onion, lettuce sandwiches are on the menu. The chickpeas might get roasted. The green peas will no doubt be eaten raw, along with cherries and strawberries. And strawberries will be dropped on top of oat bran.

Saturday Market: Fruit and Green Peas!

It would be a shame to cook these peas. I have been eating them raw, by the handful, all day. Peas, by the way, are another great answer to every vegan's favorite question, "Where do you get your protein?". Peas are a legume and, as such, a great source of protein.



Saturday Shopping List

1 quart green peas
1 quart cherries
1 quart strawberries
1 very large head of romaine lettuce
1 head of buttercrunch lettuce
4 sweet potatoes
1 bunch of asparagus
1 quart crimini mushrooms
6 large carrots
6 tomatoes
4 summer squash
2 zucchini
1 loaf multi-grain bread
2 bagels

Total: $39 and change

The cherries are delicious. This was the first week there were cherries. I got a quart of strawberries at one table and put them in a small paper bag, then a quart of cherries at the next table and put them into the same bag. So I have a paper bag full of refreshing, sweet, tart, fruity goodness in the refrigerator. I can't keep my hands out of it. Today has been busy with homework, and I've lived on snacks of raw green peas, strawberries, and cherries.

This is also the first week there was Patty Pan Squash, but I didn't get any, because I had already gotten summer squash and zucchini, and we still had some squash at home, and I didn't want to let it go to waste. It's good to know the Patty Pan is back, though. I'm having flashbacks to last summer, as we head into our second full summer of living off the farmers' market. We're moving at the end of the month, and it's good to know we'll only be a few blocks away and actually a little bit closer to the market. The walk will change slightly, but will be about the same length.

Here comes the summer (squash).

You should have seen how happy I got when I saw the summer squash at the market yesterday. Actually, I saw golden zucchini first and got excited because I thought it was summer squash, and even after noticing it wasn't, I still bought a bunch of it, cause who doesn't love golden zucchini? Then, on down the line a few tables, there was the real summer squash. Got some of that as well. At this point in the summer, I can fry this stuff in thin slices and eat it like candy. I don't get sick of it until at least late July. I found green zucchini at Milk and Honey last week, got a couple of those and threw some slices in with my vegetable roasts, along with shiitake mushrooms. Delicious. Last night, Mark made us a stir-fry, to be detailed below.

Saturday Shopping List

5 summer squash
5 golden zucchini
4 large sweet potatoes
1 lb. chickpeas
5 tomatoes
1 quart strawberries
23-oz jar of home-made apple sauce
1 pint shiitake mushrooms
1 large portobello cap
1 head buttercrisp lettuce
1 head green leaf lettuce
1 bunch curly kale
2 bulbs garlic
1/2 loaf sourdough banana bread
1 loaf multi-grain bread

Total: $36 and change

I'm happy about all the fruit I got. Strawberries are expensive; most people have them for $4 a pint or $7.50 a quart. One of my favorite vendors yesterday had them for $5.50 a quart, so I bought a quart from her. It's an indulgence I just decided I would indulge in. You can only get fresh local strawberries for so long (which doesn't make sense, because it seems like you could grow them in a green house pretty easily - am I wrong? Does anyone know?). Over the winter, I crave fresh berries, think about them, dream about them. When it's summer, I intend to eat as many fresh, Pennsylvania strawberries as I possibly can. Just wait until the blackberries and raspberries come in. And cherries. And blueberries. I'll buy them all.

Now, about this stir-fry that Mark made. It was asparagus, zucchini, squash, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, onion, garlic and red beans. I never think of putting beans in a stir-fry, but it's great. It's a great way to eat beans if you're tired of beans, and it's a great way to make a stir-fry more substantial. It's like you can feel the iron fortifying your body as you eat the red beans. Plus, it's delicious. We had it with multi-grain toast with jelly on the side.