Treats From A Farmers Market

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Buy Local, Eat Fresh

Getting your food at the farmers market is a treat, especially when it is the Davis Farmers Market in California where the bounty and variety delight both young and old. I explored this market that is connected to the bread basket of America before. In this post, I explore some of its specific delectable treats.

Raw Local Honey

Local beekeepers bring their raw honey to the market and taste-testing is encouraged. One of my favorites is the lavender honey shown in the photo above. Pure Honey comes from this beekeeper called Henry's Bullfrog Bees.

Being able to taste the honey made from different flowers is an education in itself. It's remarkable how different flowers create a strong variation in the taste and color of the honey. The wonders of nature.

 
“Where a bee collects its nectar determines the characteristics of honey such as the color, flavor, and composition.”
— Pure Honey
 

Buying local honey is important to help sustain small beekeepers. Our environment also benefits from a variety of beekeepers, not just the mass producers. Most studies say it is a myth that eating honey will help with your allergies, but don't let that stop you from enjoying it in your tea or on toast and in your baking. 

Honey is natural and considered harmless for adults and there is nothing to fear from raw honey. But pediatricians strongly caution against feeding honey to children under 1 year old. Children's digestive tracts aren't fully developed until after that age.

 
 

Farm Fresh Eggs

One of my favorite foods at the market is the fresh eggs from Vega Farms. I was first made aware of their double-yolk goodness when I overheard someone asking for a dozen of double-yolks. What? As far as I'm concerned, the yolks are the best part, right? 

Double-yolk eggs are a treat available only at the market, because eggs sold in grocery stores and the co-op are limited to single yolk. You want to plan an early arrival for these gems, because they sell out. 

The egg vendor knows I always get the double-yolk eggs. If she's not too busy with customers, we exchange a few words together. It adds a personal connection to the food shopping experience.

 
 

Connecting With The Vendors

Going to the same market on a regular basis has the added benefit of connecting with the vendors. I love having a face and a background with the product I'm buying. An added benefit is that the sellers often share good information about their products. For example, he'll tell you how to cook squash blossoms.

Here they are: squash blossoms for sale. The vendor clued me in that when the blossoms are available, people will queue before 8 a.m. (when the market opens) so as not to miss them. As you can imagine, it's a limited quantity and a short season, so people don't want to miss out. You won't be finding these in your supermarket.

Organic Cheese

Happy cows make happy milk and this is the case for our local Nicosio Valley Cheese Company and their pasture-based cows. I discovered one of their cheeses when I first started going to the market four years ago. 

The cheese is called Foggy Morning and it is, by far, a favorite of ours. The name alone inspires the imagination, especially for a fog-lover like me. It's a young cheese with a soft, creamy texture and it's refreshing in your mouth. Pair it with sliced, lightly salted heirloom tomatoes and you will satisfy any gourmet palate.

When the cheese vendor sees me coming, she reaches for a Foggy Morning. She knows that's what I always buy. This particular cheese is so popular, I have to make sure to get there early before it sells out.

 
“Foggy Morning is our American Cheese Society award-winning fresh cheese, it’s soft with a very subtle tang. Excellent on its own or paired with either savory or sweet accompaniments. ”
— Nicosio Valley Cheese
 
 
 

Buying at the farmers market brings me closer to the origins of my food. What a joy it was to share in their good news that our delicious Foggy Morning won a blue ribbon from the American Cheese Society Convention.

 
“We are proud to announce we received 3 awards at last weeks American Cheese Society Convention! We won Blue for our Foggy Morning and Red for our Loma Alta and San Geronimo!”
— Nicasio Valley Cheese
 

Are you able to shop local where you live?

 

Davis Farmers Market

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Job Transfer To California

One of the advantages of the new job was that I would not have to dig my car out of winter snow and ice in the cold, black hour of 6:30 a.m.

Six-thirty a.m. in the dead of winter is an hour no civilized person should step out of their bed, much less their house. 

I dreaded those early mornings when I opened my front door and waded into the treacherous black night that had yet to turn into day. You'd tell yourself to watch out for an ice patch, but that slick ice grabbed your ankle and smashed you to the ground faster than you could take a breath. I would be left with a thigh-consuming bruise from hip to knee.

Hobbling into work, I'd only get cold stares from co-workers conveying their annoyance that I wasn't there earlier.

Those icicle days were over. No more bags of salt for icy stairs. No more winter woes of shoveling snow to get to work.

California, here we come.

Davis Farmers Market

California – the land of nuts and fruits. This is an old, tired joke but, truth be known, California really does have an abundance of fruits and nuts that grow here.

I discovered this was another job advantage. I would be living near The Central Valley, one of the world's most productive agricultural regions. More than 230 crops are grown there.

Just 20 miles from home, the Davis farmers market throws its arms open wide to welcome a multitude of food sellers. It's an outdoor market with a covering. It's situated next to a large park if you fancy bringing a blanket for an outdoor picnic. 

The farmers market has existed for over 35 years. The market grew from just three farmers with boxes of produce on the ground, some eggs and loaves of bread to a thriving marketplace that now has a growing number of vendors and fruit and vegetable cultivars. 

 
“The market operates under a pavilion built especially for it with public funds, one of the few of its kind in the state, and it draws 7,000 - 10,000 people each week.”
 

The Davis farmers market is open rain or shine twice a week:
Saturdays from 8 am – 1 pm and Wednesday evenings. 

Fresh And Organic

Nothing beats the taste of fruits and vegetables that were picked only a day or two before you eat them. Flavors burst in your mouth and a long-forgotten sweetness romances the cells of your body. The produce is fresh and vibrant – alive.

I am particularly fond of the organic peaches. Just look at this photo of a ripe peach. 

Organic food decays faster, so you have to plan for it, buying just what you need or tucking it in the refrigerator sooner than you'd expect. In the supermarket, chemicals are used to make the fruit firmer and to make it last longer, but it also contributes to a decrease in taste. 

Seasons Of The Earth

Going to the farmers market put me in touch with how our produce reflects the seasons. In our modern grocery stores, foods are flown in from around the world, creating the illusion that nothing ever goes out of season. It's always spring somewhere.

As a steady market-goer, I learned to sense the pulse of our earth. I watched the produce change and respond as the days darken and then lengthen again. Peaches are simply not available in December. 

At the farmers market, I celebrate the arrival of cherries and peaches and wistfully bid them goodbye when they must go.

The sweetest cherry tomatoes are bright orange and red. They sing their song, then leave. I anticipate their arrival a few weeks before they're ready. When are the cherry tomatoes coming? Wait for it, wait for it, ahhhh, here they are.

Grapes have a late summer timing and their sweet nectar is unlike anything purchased in a grocery store.

In winter, we welcome the citrus crops. I rejoice when asparagus arrives on the scene.

"How much longer will the cherries last?" I ask one of the vendors. 

"Only two more weeks!" he calls out to me.

When we come to the end of a season, I try to plan accordingly and stock up. I can't buy enough to last for the rest of the year, but I can extend the season just a little. For example, I'll cut up fruit and freeze it for future smoothies.

Sometimes I won't be able to get to the market for a week or two and when I return, I've already missed it. A certain fruit or vegetable is gone for the year.

If you visit this part of California, it's well worth a stop at the Davis farmers market.