2 comments Jul 05/11 LIfestyle

Tips for going to the Farmers Market

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again… I love farmers markets!

Since Michael also loves them, we took a scenic drive along some beautiful country roads to a farmers market in Matthews, North Carolina on Saturday morning.  We’d never been there before, so we were curious to see how it compared to our beloved Charlotte Farmers Market.

When we pulled up to it, the first thing we noticed was that it was a lot smaller. However, it was also adorable, quaint, and friendly.

I guess that size doesn’t always matter.

And as we strolled from vendor to vendor, a folkish-type band played music in the background. How cute is that?

We scored a whole bunch of produce and made sure to stock up on tomatoes since Michael and I are both loving tomatoes right now.

The exciting part of the trip was that we took home two new-to-us foods: mini eggplants (which will reappear in Thursday night’s dinner) and a white cucumber (which is yellow!).

I’m not really sure why they call it a white cucumber since it is yellow, but whatever.  That’s its name.

We’re also really not sure what to do with it yet, but I think that we can probably just eat it as we would a regular cucumber…

Being that I’m a pint-sized farmers market semi-expert, I thought that I’d share some of my tips for making the most of your visits there.

Tips for going to the Farmers Market

• Learn where your local farmers market is located. You can’t go if you don’t know where they are, right?  The USDA website database of farmers markets is a great resource for finding local markets in your area.

• Bring your own reusable bag(s).  Most vendors have plastic bags that you can use, but it can be very cumbersome to try and carry a whole bunch of little bags at once.  Plus, it tends to cut off my circulation.

• Go early in the morning. If you wait until the afternoon (or even late morning), you’ll have to push your way through crowds and fight for the last perfectly red tomato.  If you go first thing, you can take your time, stroll along, and just have at it!

• Browse before you buy. This one took me a long time to master- and I learned the hard way that browsing is best.  There have been so many times when I’ve bought something like peaches from the first vendor I’ve seen, and then I’ll walk a little further down and find not only more peaches…but better peaches.  After going to the same farmers market a few times though, you’ll automatically begin to know which vendors carry your favorites.

• Carry cash in the form of smaller bills, if possible. It can be difficult for vendors to break larger bills for you.  Carrying a few quarters wouldn’t hurt either.

• Talk to the vendors. You don’t have to ask for their blood type, zodiac sign, or favorite color, but ask them how they’d recommend storing or preparing the foods that they have there.  Find out where their farms are and if they use pesticides.  You can learn so much!

What are your tips for going to the farmers market? And most importantly, does anyone know what the heck to do with a white cucumber?

Have a happy healthy day!