As many of you (especially my local friends) know every Thursday the boy and I head to the market.? We were lucky this week in that the trusty husband joined us.
I go to the market to support our local farmers and find fresh produce that actually tastes like… well… food.? I stopped buying produce at the grocery store about 2 years ago.
Our county is lucky that we have a great mix of urban fun and agricultural resources.? However, our agriculture is less than that of other Washington counties.? Most of the produce at our market comes from Eastern Washington.? I find it somewhat disturbing, but at least I’m supporting WA business.? Our climate is such that growing vegetables west of the Cascades is doable, but the variety is limited.
In any case I love to go to the market, see community members and taste the local fare.? But what can you get at a market in Western Washington that only runs from 9-2 once a week?? I’ll tell you… a lot and not a lot.? I typically get $40 in cash from the ATM when we first arrive.? (this week was a little more because I had to feed the trusty husband and I had a little extra laying around from something else)? So I’ve decided to add a feature to my site where on Thursday afternoons I’ll update what we bought at the market.? (Please be aware that there are some weeks we don’t actually get there due to weather or life)
When you consider the average produce item travels 1500 miles to our tables … eastern Wash. Is more of a next door neighbor.
I do a weekly trip to the farmer’s market, too. This week’s haul was Rainier cherries, blueberries, broccoli, green beans, snap peas, baby redskin potatoes, fresh whole-wheat bread, and some pretty gladiolas for my dining room table. It was a good haul this week!
I’m kinda sad that I live in Korea and all of our food is shipped from the states. Talk about not fresh. There is some Korean offerings, but not much- I buy what I can- no Farmer Markets or anything like that. Washington sounds really nice. I got the book- Twilight by Stephanie Meyer for my kids and then started reading it myself. It takes place in Washington- it sounds nice there.
we have two local farmers markets, but only on Saturdays, and you have to get there really early and beat the crowd… but it is worth it.
Not really related to the Farmer’s market, but I got a little east coast nostalgic when I read teh title of your entry… I though it said,
“Down the Market”
kind of like “Down the Shore”
Which is how people in PA, NJ, and NY refer to going to the Ocean.