Farmers Market: Local Greengrocers

When I went to Market in April, the local growers didn't have much in yet.  When I returned in June to take more photos, there were many more things on hand.  The first six images were taken in April; the remainder, in June.

I am embarrassed to say I have lost this farmer's name.  He owns one of the organic farms in the county and is very proud of that fact.  The greens and lettuces are from his farm, started in cold-frames then set out in the warm part of the beds.  Because we had such a warm, wet spring, the plants took off like a house afire.

A friendly, but camera shy Mennonite woman brought in asparagus from her farm.  Somebody else had the thin spears for sale a couple of stalls down from her, but I fancy fat spears.

These mushrooms are from Lancaster county, to our east.  The area is known throughout the state for its mushrooms, all kinds, but these are all that were ready in early April.

Beautiful spinach.

 Mrs. Mennonite also had early onions (scallions) on offer...

...and some of her pickled end-of-harvest veggies.  That's chow-chow relish third from the left.  Chow-chow is one of the seven-sour-seven-sweet pickles on their farm tables, especially at haying time, funerals and barn-raisings.  I don't think they put out that many for regular meals, though they might.

The following photos were taken in mid-June, when local produce became more readily available.

 New potatoes: Yukon Golds, I think.

 Zucchini wars!  One competitor's zukes are smaller, more tender, certainly fresher looking, and less expensive than...

...his competition right around the corner.  They all look good, but I bought from the first guy.

These next photos are all from the same farmer's stall.  His orchards are producing better this year, he said, than the last couple of years, due to the good weather we had this spring.

These are an early sweet cherry, the name of which I didn't write down.  I want to say Bing, but I'm not positive.

 This is a recently developed peach Mr. Tuckey's experimenting with in his orchards, called PF5.  It's supposed to mature early, produce heavily and early, and is sweeter than most early peaches.  It is a cling.  Too early, I learned, for freestones.

Root crops (turnips and beets), left in the ground and heavily mulched over last winter for an early spring crop.  Dug up and cleaned the day before market.

 Another early peach, Rich May, if I remember correctly.  I'll correct that, if I discover that isn't the name.  Another cling.

Queen Anne cherries, possibly Rainier, one of my favorite sweet cherries.  (I also favor Bings and sour cherries.  I think the sour cherry is Montgomery...I'll check.)

There are a couple of commercial 'farmers' stalls that I photographed because of how nicely the produce was arranged, but the produce was not locally grown.  I'll post a couple of those next.

(C) 2012, M. C. McLemore