Uptown Westerville Farmers' Market

Lil and I needed to pick up vegetables for dinner yesterday and decided to visit the Uptown Westerville Farmers' Market.

The market is held on Wednesday afternoons at the corner of North State and East Home streets. It is a small market but highly selective about vendors, choosing the best vegetable growers, meat farmers, and quality producers. We appreciated that in the compact space we didn't have to sift through crafts or junk to find good, real food.

On this particular Wednesday in early May, Lil paired bread samples from Dan the Baker with Sweet Thing Gourmet jam. I picked up asparagus from Flying J Farm and asked for radishes from Bird's Haven Farms, though they didn't have any yet. We checked in at the Swainway Urban Farm tent where we will work every other week starting in June.

We easily found free parking less than a block away from the market.  If we had more time, we could have explored the many shops and small eateries in uptown. It is a good idea to pack a cooler or insulated bag to keep your purchases chilled if you want to tour uptown Westerville.

The crowd was friendly and full but not uncomfortably crowded. Like most seasonal markets, I expect Uptown Westerville will attract more shoppers as farmers are able to bring a bigger variety of produce. It's a great little market with plenty of real, local food.

Uptown Westerville Farmers' Market

Wednesdays weekly May - October 3 - 6 pm

N. State & E. Home in Uptown Westerville, OH

Uptown Westerville Farmers' Market

Lil and I needed to pick up vegetables for dinner yesterday and decided to visit the Uptown Westerville Farmers' Market.

The market is held on Wednesday afternoons at the corner of North State and East Home streets. It is a small market but highly selective about vendors, choosing the best vegetable growers, meat farmers, and quality producers. We appreciated that in the compact space we didn't have to sift through crafts or junk to find good, real food.

On this particular Wednesday in early May, Lil paired bread samples from Dan the Baker with Sweet Thing Gourmet jam. I picked up asparagus from Flying J Farm and asked for radishes from Bird's Haven Farms, though they didn't have any yet. We checked in at the Swainway Urban Farm tent where we will work every other week starting in June.

We easily found free parking less than a block away from the market.  If we had more time, we could have explored the many shops and small eateries in uptown. It is a good idea to pack a cooler or insulated bag to keep your purchases chilled if you want to tour uptown Westerville.

The crowd was friendly and full but not uncomfortably crowded. Like most seasonal markets, I expect Uptown Westerville will attract more shoppers as farmers are able to bring a bigger variety of produce. It's a great little market with plenty of real, local food.

Uptown Westerville Farmers' Market

Wednesdays weekly May - October 3 - 6 pm

N. State & E. Home in Uptown Westerville, OH

Orange Farmers and Artisans Market California {Silent Sunday}

Olde Towne Orange Farmers and Artisans Market: local pursuing-organic citrus and avocados, succulent and fruit plants, Guerilla Beekeepers honey from rescued bees, Milkman curated cheese and dairy products, tropical fruit, Front Porch popsicles in shirt sleeves in January,  a brilliant scavenger hunt to keep kids busy and learning, Carlsbad Aquafarm cultivated native oysters (best we've ever tasted) all in a friendly, spacious location with live music, seating, coffee and water provided. What a way to spend the morning!

Orange Home Grown Market

Saturdays 9 am - 1 pm, year-round Cypress St. and Palm Ave. (304 N. Cypress St.) in Olde Towne Orange 6 miles from Disneyland, CA OrangeHomegrown.org

Markets, Contests, Chickens, and Bees {Friday Five}

1. Starting next Wednesday, the Clintonville Farmers' Market will host Slow Down Wednesdays from 4:30 - 7:30 pm. Shop some of your favorite market vendors plus a few new faces during the evening. 2. The Food Experiment is coming to Columbus on July 15. Amateur chefs will compete under the theme 'Smoke'. A $10 ticket gains you entry to taste samples, vote on your favorite, and drink a Brooklyn Beer.

3. Speaking of competitions, did you know that state fair blue ribbons aren't just for kids? The Ohio State Fair give adults a chance to win cash prizes in addition to bragging rights in many cooking and baking competitions. Contests require pre-registration by July 11 so browse the link and sign up soon.

4. City Folk's Farm Shop is hosting an inaugural Chicken Support Group for central Ohio backyard chicken keepers. Experienced chicken-raisers, newbies, and those thinking about rearing fowl in the backyard are welcome Sunday July 22 at 7 pm.

5. I leave you with this funky educational video produced by Burt's Bees and Wild For Bees. Watch the wildly costumed actress teach about bee life and why we need to protect them.

Keauhou Farmers Market {Silent Sunday}

Scenes from the Keauhou Farmers Market on yesterday's very sunny morning. 1) row of stands on hot black pavement. 2) Rancho Aloha farmer gave me seeds for lulo fruit 3) Kona macadamia nuts 4) huge cheap avocados 5) Display of lychee, avocados, mangos, and passionfruit 6) When Pigs Fly delicious charcuterie 7) edible orchids 8 ) Lil with her goodies - a lei, perfume, and tiny pineapple

How to Eat an Unfamiliar Vegetable {Friday Five}

I saw plenty of unfamiliar produce at farmers' markets in Hawaii. Often I ask farmers what to do with strange items but when I purchased the above taro root from a non-native English speaker, I didn't receive much guidance. My family was suspect of the taro after eating poi and I wanted to show them it could be tasty so I employed my five step plan to enjoy an unfamiliar vegetable:

1. Raw - I taste everything raw to see what the initial characteristics are like. In the case of taro our tongues were coated with thick starch and not much other flavor. I knew this meant we had to cook the taro for a good while to break down the starch and add heavy seasoning to trick our tastebuds.

2. Steamed - A quick steam is a good way to enjoy vegetables whose initial raw taste has good flavor. I suspected that taro would take a long time to steam thoroughly so we skipped this step.

3. Boiled and Pureed - Most root vegetables taste good when boiled in salted water. Puree with a little butter if the texture is off putting. Peas, beans, and leaf vegetables can also be quickly boiled and added to purees. I meant to try boiling taro but ran out of space on the range. 4. Oven Roasted - Nearly all produce, including fruit, taste sweeter after a trip in a hot oven. Toss the raw product with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper (or brown sugar in the case of fruit) and cook until caramelized. Roasted taro mixed nicely with potatoes prepared the same way.

5. Fried in Bacon Fat - When all else fails, pull out the big guns: bacon drippings. There is precious little that doesn't taste amazing when fried in bacon fat and indeed the taro was more than palatable this way. To completely cook the starch, we fried each half-inch side for five minutes.

What do you do when you come across an unfamiliar vegetable?

Please excuse the poorly lit photos. Despite ample outdoor light for some reason I chose to take pictures in the kitchen. I blame it on the mai tais.

Farmers' Market Fresh - How to Store & Preserve Produce

Choosing delicious seasonal fruits and vegetables from farmers' markets and CSAs is an investment of time and money, a commitment that keeps dollars in the local economy, supports sustainable agriculture, and helps people have a healthy diet. There is much to learn about what's available when and who to buy it from. I recently contributed 'How to Shop A Farmer's Market Like a Pro' guide on Once a Month Mom with my top tips for feeling comfortable at farmers' markets.

The dedication to local food doesn't stop at the farmers' market or CSA pick up. Once the hand-picked produce is home, cooks want to use the fruits and vegetables to their full potential without waste.

Farmers' Market Fresh

Sensing a need, I created Farmers' Market Fresh, a guide to storing and preserving Midwestern seasonal produce. My one-page chart details how to keep fruits and vegetables freshest, how long you can expect them to last, and suggestions for long-term preservation.

Click on the icons in the top right to expand Farmer's Market Fresh on your screen. If you want a print copy (how exciting to think this might end up on someone's fridge!) download the seasonal produce guide as a printable .pdf.

Will you use the Farmers' Market Fresh guide? How do you get the most out of farm fresh produce?

PS. My farmers' market (Clintonville) starts tomorrow from 9 am to noon! I am so excited to be selling seedlings, microgreens, and mushrooms with Swainway Urban Farm. Stop by our booth at Dunedin and High (on the side of Global Gallery coffee shop) and say hello.