Ok.  Maybe the title’s a bit misleading.

One of our favorite Saturday morning traditions during the summer months is a trip to The Vineyard Farmers Market on Shaw and Blackstone in Fresno.  We usually stop by each week between June and August to get our fill of the wonderful nectarines, peaches, figs, and plums that our valley gives us.  It’s a great chance to learn from the people who know the most about your food, support local businesses, get fresh produce and–most exciting–try new things.

Until this last weekend, we hadn’t ventured to a winter session of the farmer’s market.  Honestly, I don’t expect much from winter produce.  My knowledge of the things that grow in the winter is that they’re leafy and green, which in my mind means boring.  But, since chores are home are also boring, we ventured out to the rainy market.

The character of the farmer’s market doesn’t change– there’s still a bunch of great people there to share their passion for agriculture.  And they took full opportunity to show me how wrong I was about their chards and tubers.  There’s a whole variety of amazing tastes that you can get from these veggies.  All of the vendors we met were knowledgeable as to the flavors their produce held and the types of preparations they worked best in.  We ended up leaving with broccolini, Chinese broccoli, leeks, fennel, lambs quarter, arugula flowers, carrots and some herb I’d never heard of.   Oh, and a bunch of chocolate truffles.  Mmmm… neither leafy nor green.

Anyway, long story short, it’s always good to get out and explore what your community has to offer.  There’s always something new to learn!

Filed under: Food