The Market Opens in May
There’s something very exciting going on in May – that is, in addition to the Kentucky Derby, a new baseball season, and many college graduations. I’m talking about the season of local Farmer’s Markets opening and blooming with vibrant colors, amazing flavors, top-quality nutrition, and fun for everyone. It has become a ‘thing’ these past 3-5 years to meet your friends, buy a vegetable, and meet a farmer on Saturday mornings at the Market. But, it was weeks and months before May that local farmers got started…
Starting the Crops
As winter transitions to spring, farmers have been hard at work. They select seeds for what they will grow and they plant and nurture little plants as they pop from the soil. Farmers watch the weather for adequate rain but not too much, and they keep an eye on the temperatures for colder nights when they might need to cover up a newly sprouted crop. Finally in April/May, farmers start seeing a return on their sweat equity and financial investment as food becomes read to harvest and sell to us! If you enjoy learning about US history then take a look at farming fun facts of old times to modern days here.
What’s for Sale in the Spring?
Green plant foods dominate a spring Market. Look for spinach, lettuce, kale, mustard greens, arugula and dandelion greens. Also, green onions are early growers. Red radishes are in abundance in the spring, and a favorite for many people I know is asparagus so don’t miss it. The photo above shows a bowl of kale and a bunch of asparagus from my local, NC Farmer’s Market. Not in the photo were pea shoots – the very green tops of pea plants I can chop up and add to my salad or sandwich. And, of course, farm fresh eggs are available and awesome all year long. Read about the Farmer’s Market in the next season – summer – and why it’s important to go.
Push Yourself to Eat Local Food
To appreciate the flavors of locally grown, farm fresh food, it’s worth pushing yourself. Find out which Farmer’s Market your friends and neighbors like and go there. Designate ‘farm food dinner’ night at your family table. Be especially careful to have a plan and use/cook your farm produce within 1-3 days of buying it. Otherwise, it won’t be so fresh and tasty. If you are looking for resources to cook more simple meals at home, then visit my eStore for menus with handy shopping lists, easy recipes, and more. See you at the Farmer’s Market!
What will be on your spring Farmer’s Market shopping list?
Healthy post.Summer is the nutrition month as you explained it very well.
When local farms burst with beautiful produce and other products is the best time of the year!
In summer season their is really great variety on nutrition veegies get easliy. Thank you for this post.
You’re welcome and I hope you got some new ideas here!
Farmer’s work very hard for this summer to produce more nutrition veegies that we easily buy from the market. Thank youfor sharing this post.
You’re welcome! I have many local farmer friends who, as you said, work very hard to grow/raise delicious food.