Farmer's Market

Going to the farmer's market is an eye-opening and spiritual experience for me.  I discover wonderful new vegetables, fruits, fragrant, texture everytime.  I love farmer's markets because there are so many kinds of fresh seasonal fruits and vegetables, at the peak of ripeness and beauty, which  i never saw at the super market.   Before discovering the farmer's markets i get bored going the the supermarket because all year-round i kept seeing the same kind of vegetables like broccoli, cabbage, carrot, potato, tomato apple, banana ... over and over, with no varieties.   The farmer's markets show me what each season has to offer.  Every kind of fruits and vegetables comes with so many varieties which could be a feast for the eyes and taste bud.  I also get to meet the farmers,  ask them questions directly which they would be happy to share information about what they grow, from which i could feel the passion and love they have for their products which transforms into a deep apprieciation for these stewards of the land and the nourishing bounty from mother earth.

Have you ever seen these lovely bunches of fragrant lavender in the supermarket?


the delicate squash blossoms


or this huge beautiful organic head of lettuce :-)


and these gorgeous heads of lettuce, radicchio


So many kinds of peppers,


tomatoes


eggplants


How about these vegetables?




I first saw fresh fava bean at the farmer's market and it is one of the best discoveries



I used to disdain the sour, scent-lacking strawberries in the supermarket until i encounter the sweet, juicy, fragrant, melt-in-your-mouth strawberries from Harry's Berries.  They are not cheap but totally worth my hard earned money.  Btw, i don't get anything from them for this advertisement :-).  They ran out fast so make sure you come early. 



How about some fresh sunflower seed


These cute lemon cucumbers are really juicy!


Giant sweet onions from one of my favorite stands owned by a young couple in the Santa Monica market


During the summer the best stones fruit like apricots, peaches, nectarines could only be found at the farmer's market, imho, because the best tasting fruits are quite delicate, they bruise easily and not suitable to sit for long the supermarket shelves.   These are the mouth-watering fruits from the Ferry Building market in San Francisco




and you get to taste them too :-)



You could also get grass-fed meat



Here in Southern California, there are many very good farmer's markets. The best known ones are Santa Monica (Wednesday, Saturday), Beverly Hills (Sunday), Hollywood (Sunday). Santa Monica is probably the best, imho. The Wednesday market is huge, it's almost twice as big as the one on Saturday. Many farms only sell at the Wednesday market and many chefs show up to get the best offerings.  

Do you go to farmer's market?  i hope there's one near to where you live, you check it out, and let me know what you find :-)

And please stay away from GMO food!

Since i am an organic-food freak, these are some of my favorite Farmer's Markets in Southern California

Santa Monica Wed/Sat
Hollywood
Beverly Hills
Long Beach