Heart Heart Heart The Farmer's Market

Apricots & Plums © Nina Buesing

I think officially it is called the Greenmarket Farmers Market but everyone I know calls it the Farmer's Market. I love the Union Square Farmer's Market. It reminds me of childhood and going to the markets with my parents. And of course I like quality of the produce and eating what is in season.
I am not going macrobiotic, but in the summer it is really easy to just go with the flow.
There seems to be a misconception that the market is pricey. If you survey first and pay attention while shopping, the Farmer's Market can be a great deal -- after all you are shopping directly from the producer.
The other day we had some people over for brunch and they marveled at our really delicious 1/2 gallon Medium Amber Deep Mountain Vermont Maple Syrup Glass Jar and our friends were surprised to find out that it cost only $38.
Deep Mountain also make excellent Maple Candy -- I like the one with ginger. I am not that big on desserts, or maybe I should say used to not be that big on dessert. I do like the Van Leeuwen Ice Cream (however when will guys roll out some sorbet, huh?!) and I do enjoy a good apple pie. The Farmer's Market offers plenty of great baked goods: Breezy Hill Orchards make a damn fine apple pie and Maple Wind Farm make great Vegan (!) & sugar-free Apple & Peach Pies.
Another good and cheaper buy at the market is dairy.
I am Northern German and my culture is big on dairy products (Schleswig-Holstein as in Holstein dairy cows was pretty much my backyard).
I have had my vegan phases but dairy is hard for me to give up entirely for many reasons. Basically my solution to my ethical dilemma is to minimize intake and limit myself to dairy products from "happy cows". I mostly drink soy milk, but if I buy regular milk I purchase it from the local Ronnybrook Farms at the market.
Ronnybroke also makes some seriously good yogurt. Their mango flavor is pretty much divine and today I was thrilled to discover that they are trying out selling not just their milk but also their yogurt in glass containers. I have been waiting for this!
You leave a deposit for the bottle, but if you don't bring them back they make for fine vases and even decanters.

I also like meeting the Farmer's. You can meet one virtually by watching this short film that I found via www.kottke.org at www.seriouseast.com:


Meet Rick Bischop courtesy Serious Eats

PS: Forgot to mention how delicious Red Jacket Orchards juices are. Wish they came in glass bottles too though...