In mid-April the farmer’s markets opened in Asheville, NC. In case you hadn’t heard, Asheville is notorious for their cuisines and sustainable lifestyle. Needless to say, I was spoiled rotten in the food department when I lived there for two and a half years. As much as I love Cincinnati and have been enjoying this new adventure, I miss the food in Asheville – the grocery stores, restaurants and farmer’s markets…unbelievable and so affordable! Talk about a win-win!
Anyways, imagine my surprise when I learned that the farmer’s market closest to my new home wasn’t scheduled to open until mid June! Spring is the best season to eat seasonally, in my opinion anyway, so I am thrilled that the market is finally open.
A trip to the Hyde Park Farmer’s Market makes for a really wonderful Sunday morning. From speaking to the vendors I learned that this is the first year the market is in the Hyde Park square – previously the market took place in a nearby parking lot. So it’s a good sign that this market is growing. Yea Cincinnati!
The market is small enough that you can walk through it fairly quickly, but large enough that you have enough options of local vegetables. There are a few booths for baked goods, one booth for coffee, another booth for crepes and waffles, kumbucha and other fermented goodies, and lots of vegetables.
At the market I was introduced to garlic scapes, which are part of garlic plants. Garlic grows underground and the bulb starts out soft. When it gets harder, this is the garlic that we recognize in the grocery stores. A shoot pokes through the ground, which is long, green, thin and curls. As growth continues, the scape hardens and transforms from green to the white color of a garlic peel. Here is some more information if you are curious.
The flavor is incredible. It’s not as sharp as garlic, and has a softer but richer garlic flavor. We cut them up and put them in a stir-fry with other local veggies from the market and it was delicious. The farmer had a sample of garlic scapes on display with sautéed onions, olive oil and balsamic vinegar, which I imagine tasted pretty awesome.
If you’ve tried this delicious vegetable before and know what I’m talking about, I would love to hear about your experience.
Here are some other goodies that we got at the farmers market. Do you see the dirt on the lettuce and how different the eggs look from what you find in your grocery store?
Shopping for food in a farmer’s market is such a different experience from the grocery store. I love farmer’s markets for many reasons, but one of the most important reasons is that I have learned how to reconnect with my food – I am reminded of how many hands are involved in this process and I am grateful.