Today was the first day of the downtown Des Moines Farmer's Market and it was a gorgeous day. Sunny, with a mild breeze, and temps just about perfect.
We usually try to arrive at the market as close to start time as possible, but just couldn't quite make it at 7 a.m. today.
We didn't get there by 8 a.m. or even 9.
Fortunately, despite our late arrival at 10 a.m. and massive crowds, we still scored much of the produce I was hoping for. I've especially been longing for fresh greens and we lucked out with two large bags of mixed spinach and two small bunches of spring garlic.
A local fruit producer had a bumper crop of Honey Crisp apples last fall and over-wintered the bonus in refrigeration. I bought 8 lbs. and hope to buy more next week. I'm not sure how many pounds of tomatoes are in the box, but we've bought from this producer for the past couple of years and the quality, for greenhouse tomatoes (no pesticides or herbicides), is outstanding. We paid $15 for the box. We typically eat several tomatoes a day, so I know these will disappear without too much effort. Still, I can't wait until garden fresh tomatoes are ready!
We also found a really great artisan gouda, and at $25 a two-pound wheel, definitely a good buy. I also bought 2 small packages of goat parmesan... I think there is pasta in our future.
I'm pretty sure I missed out on asparagus and possibly rhubarb, so we'll plan to miss the worst of the crowds and arrive early next week.
I think I'll shoot for 8 a.m.
1 comment:
Our farmers markets are starting to open too :-) I love the taste of those first greens. And the timing, yes.... I try to get there as early as the market opens, and get ready to "pounce" as soon as the farmers are set up.
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