Oh, how I love sunny mornings at the St. Paul Farmers’ Market…
Ainsley and I were at the market a little after 8:00 this morning. There were a lot of growers today thanks to the nice weather. A lot of the growers had signs “Last Sale of the Season,” which makes me sad, but a few people are still planning to be there through the fall and into winter.
That’s right — the downtown market goes through the winter! Obviously you can’t get fresh lettuce and strawberries in January, but you will find eggs, meat, honey, and (I hope) some hearty produce from cold storage. Where stands of green beans and tomatoes once were, there are now hand-knitted scarves and sweaters. Instead of zucchini, you’ll find fresh-baked bread. I’m hoping for a more nice weekends like this so the growers will keep coming out, but as I said last week — I will try to love each season for what each season offers.
Today’s Picks:
- $3: Brussels sprouts (I LOVE Brussels sprouts)
- $9: 5 pounds of fresh cranberries grown in Wisconsin
- $2: Beets – These were from a woman in Taylors Falls who recently received organic certification. In fact, it’s the first certified organic Hmong owned CSA garden. Congratulations, Mhonpaj’s Garden!
- $3.50: Eggs (From pasture-raised chickens. No preventative antibiotics. Fed a vegetarian diet, except pasture bugs. Treated lovingly by their farmers.)
- $2: Broccoli
- $1: Apple cider doughnut (because I couldn’t resist bringing that home to share with Scott. Totally worth it!)
In seed time learn, in harvest teach, in winter enjoy.
-William Blake
What a bittersweet morning.
With rosy cheeks and anticipation, I arrived at the Maplewood Farmers’ Market bright and early for the last time this year. The market season is ending, and it’s a big, glaring, wintry reminder of the plastic-wrapped, blemish-free, distantly grown, waxed produce I’ll have to buy at the giant grocery store in the coming months.
I was armed with more cash than usual in hopes of stocking up, in hopes of delaying the inevitable. There were only two other shoppers, and I wanted to linger and talk to the growers all morning. The apple guy convinced me to buy a new U of M apple. The potato guy told me how to store a bushel of potatoes.
There was something easy and quiet about this morning. I wanted to stay and talk longer, and I think the growers did, too. These fall foods have a calming effect. They can’t be eaten quickly, like summers’s salad or green beans. They must be sliced, cooked, seasoned, and eaten with a plate and fork. They are slow-down-and-savor foods.
Slow
down
and
savor.
Today’s Picks:
- $6: two trays of sweet carrots
- $12: a bushel of Yukon gold potatoes (and the old potato farmer carried them to the car for me!)
- $4: a basket of economy-grade Macintosh apples (Scott and Ainsley’s favorite)
- $6: a basket of economy-grade U of M apples (the new SweeTango, I think)
- $2: a few parsnips (they smell so good!)
- $2: 4 rutabagas
- $2: celery
- $1: acorn squash
- $3: brussel sprouts
- $6: two trays of yellow onions
Lugging all that fresh food into the house, I could smell the earthiness of the root veggies filling up our home. I doubt the Yankee Candle Company people are rushing to perfect the “Dirt Chic” home collection. But maybe they should. There is something really comforting about the smell of parsnips and freshly dug potatoes. It smells like meals yet to be created. Warm soups filling empty tummies. Coziness.
I’m grateful for this season, short as it may be. I’m grateful for brussel sprouts, as much as I miss sugar snap peas. I’m grateful for the time these foods require of me. God gave us this season, these foods. So we learn how to prepare and how to enjoy rutabagas. With gratitude.
For provision, for warmth, for family, for seeds,
For this food that sustains and feeds,
We thank you, Lord, with our hearts and deeds.
Abundance and plenty we ask that you give
For those who know hunger and in darkness live.
May this bounty, this harvest, this table, this place,
Fill up our bodies, our minds, our souls
with your goodness, justice, and grace.
Amen.
October 23, 2009
- I got Ainsley out of the crib at 10:30 this morning.
- I loaded photos from our weekend onto the computer.
- Ainsley is gently sorting all the contents of my wallet.
- I am thinking about getting to a Farmers’ Market this week — one of the season’s last.
- Ainsley is now sharing the credit cards with Annabelle, her hedgehog puppet.
- I feel well rested for the first time in over a week.
- Scott is at work.
- We miss Scott.
- I had 76 unread blogs between Friday morning and this morning.
- I still have 58 unread blogs after reading through my favorites this morning.
(And how can I forget?! Ainsley’s gums are erupting with teeth — eye teeth and molars. Ouch!)
And this is what happened last week.
Don’t worry, they’re clean.
No email, no blogs, no Twitter. Maybe no cell phones.
We’re off for a weekend adventure of driving, hiding under warm blankets, and unplugging.
There will undoubtedly be Caribou Coffee, cookies, and a camera.
See you next week!
On the day you turned one…
We went to the zoo!
We saw goats that bleat and cows that moo,
and of course we couldn’t forget to bring Pooh.
On the day you turned one…
You opened a present from Mama and Daddy.
“A book! I love it! Let’s read it, please.
Mama and Daddy made a book all about me!”
On the day you turned one…
There was one little cupcake and a single candle light…
There was a happy birthday song performed with much delight,
and there was a Daddy who huffed and who puffed with all of his might.
On the day you turned one…
You squished and mushed and sorted out your cupcake…
“Mama, where’s the broccoli? There must be a mistake.
Oh wait, this is yummy. Daddy, would you like to partake?”
On the day you turned one…
We remembered the day we met you, our little hunny bun…
We can’t believe the first year is over, and a new one’s begun.
Always our baby, you’re a toddler now, and you tell us, “All done!”
