Sunday, February 22, 2009

Day Dreaming of Markets

I am going to do a bit of Day Dreaming of Markets today while sitting in my Georgia home. Ah, look at those big fat juicy blackberry's! I don't grow such beauties in my garden. I don't like the idea of the birds eating berry's then depositing the aftermath on my boat or cars. I am not crazy about stains from the birds if you know what I mean... So where do I find such beautiful berry's?
At the local Saturday morning Market in Old Downtown during the growing season. Strolling through a fresh market with basket in hand is such a treat. You never know what a grower may have from weekend to weekend.
Even plants can be picked up at a town market. You can find fresh fruits, veggies, cheese, bread, soaps, candles, crafts and many other fun things at a local market. We miss the markets in Germany as they have some wonderful markets each Friday and Saturday morning in their Zentrum (town center). We try to get to the old downtown market several times a year if possible. Other times when we are ready for fresh produce and don't have the time to go all the way into Old Towne, we stop by our favorite roadside market. This market is a barn like structure with a wonderful bounty of fresh goodies locally grown as well as brought in from bordering states.
The main thing we go here for are the juicy peaches! You cannot live in Georgia and not like peaches. I think that is a state requirement. Just joking of course but how could one not indulge in such sweetness when it is all around us!
During this visit they had the most beautiful large ferns. I wanted one but already had two and did not need any more. So the Saint grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the beauties.
Look at that counter full of Red Ripe Tomatoes! We were lucky enough to grow our own last year so we did not bring home any tomatoes.
Potatoes, onion, lemon, lime, bags of peanuts and I even see pineapple!

Squash, beans, red and green sweet peppers, cabbage, okra, new potato and egg plant amongst some canned items.
We usually come home with a cantaloupe or melon as they have the sweetest in town!
Our bounty this day consisted of Peaches, Silver Queen corn, Potatoes, Blue Berry's, Green Bean and a small seedless Watermelon! Yum it was all delicious...
I think they called this a Sugar melon but not for sure. It was sweet as can be and we choose this melon over a cantaloupe as they were a bit small this trip.
A few weeks later we stopped by again for more peaches. They were so sweet last year. Probably due to lack of rain. They claim if a fruit gets less rainfall that it may be smaller but sweeter. I know these were sweet treats to our taste buds!
They must have had plenty of rain where this peach was grown. Look at the size of that one after another market visit!

Ah, there is nothing like looking back and doing a bit of DAY DREAMING OF MARKETS while looking out my window, In the Garden...

36 comments:

  1. Oh, how great to have the oppertunity to by local prodused fruit lika that! It looks so tasty / gittan

    http://gittans.gardenblogg.se

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  2. Hmmmmmmmm what fruits...... I would like to come to you.... (-; and visit the market.... Have a nice sunday, sunny greetings from Kessi

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  3. The Farmer's Markets and the roadside veggie/fruit stands are the best. Great looking food here.

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  4. I loved shopping with you, Skeeter. You've kindled my appetite with yummy melons, berries, tomatoes, and APPLES! Thank you for such a nice post. Had a great time.

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  5. Skeeter -- What a wonderful daydream! I am SO ready for the farmer's markets here, too. Great photo!

    Cameron

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  6. Oh Skeeter, my mouth is watering looking at all that lovely frest produce. Summer's bounty is wonderful. I love the open air markets.
    Janet

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  7. Geez I can imagine the juice of the blackberries right now! Love these! This market looks delicious-how can you resist anything? Oh yeah, the Saint pulling you:) What a nice break on a cold day today! It is super you have one nearby-and such a lovely one too. Have a great day and don't worry-you will have tons of maters this year too.

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  8. Good Morning All,
    That looks so yummy. I really like the roadside stands. Things are much fresher. We have several around here & of course the Flea Market always has things. I think they travel south & pick up a lot of this produce.
    Have a great day all.

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  9. Oh Skeeter, peaches! My very favorite fruit. They were good last year I though too. Yum! Our town's council is working on making a nice market downtown here. The current one is several miles out of town, and I go anyway, but would love to have one closer. It would do a better business too, inspiring more to join in. Hope it happens. I know Europe and the rest of the world actually are way ahead of us on the local market thing. Time to get with it!
    Frances

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  10. Each morning I thoroughly enjoy a banana, fresh blueberries and a few strawberries in my Kashi. If I can find all of the above fruits, that is. Reminds me of the wonderful produce from my childhood, grown right in our own large garden.
    Brenda

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  11. All the food looks absolutly scrumious! I can't wait!

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  12. How great it would be to have such a great market to go to. We have a Sat. Mkt once per month in the growing season here. I think we may let my daughter have a fruit/veggie stand this coming summer. I figure if I am going to grow 10 tomato plants why not 30? DD is still trying to decide if this is something she wants to do. 13 is a hard age for summer committment.

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  13. Good morning everyone! We are still in Atlanta and enjoying the relaxation!

    We do enjoy the fresh markets during the growing season. And yes Frances, I think you are right when saying that setting up a market will encourage more people in the area to give gardening a try! All the fresh market produce is so much better then the local grocery stores! Cant wait to get my hands in the dirt this season....

    Everyone enjoy their day and I will pop back in when possible....

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  14. I just love the farmers markets and we are so lucky in our great state of Maine as they are EVERTWHERE!!! In our local area we have one that is opened daily and then several others of different days of the week and then many roadside stands and you can't beat them.

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  15. Those peaches look so yummy! What a fascinating post, Skeeter. Such fresh produce on offer. Everything looks so good and the ferns couldn't have looked greener and healthier!

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  16. Luckily, we live in a rural area and most everyone grows their own vegetables. The market there looks, well, very marketable. ;~) And y'all can grow local pineapples too?? Wow! talk about a warm growing zone!

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  17. Fabulous daydream Skeeter. Now you have me jumping from wanting spring to summer! Markets & roadside stands have been my salvation since I don't usually grow veggies. I would enjoy spending some time browsing your favorites.

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  18. oh it's great !! Ilove such markets and I like that weather :-)
    lovely greatings Kathrin

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  19. Man, is my mouth watering! There's nothing quite like a good farmer's market (and ours is nothing like a good farmer's market). The one in my town is held on Thursday afternoons from 2-6, a terrible time for me, so I rarely get to go. I guess all the other burbs got the good times for the market.

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  20. Great photos and the article brings back many memories. Last year at the Carrboro Farmers Market this one vendor had maybe 35 varieties of melons, every week we brought 2-3 different types home and tried them and each week different kinds. So much fun and you could sample each melon every week.

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  21. Hi Tina.

    Thank you for taking as along on a day dreaming tour of the market. That tomato counter is WOW... amazing.

    xoxo Tyra

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  22. Now you've got me day dreaming. Like the pic of the table with the bonsai trees on them.

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  23. Skeeter, I failed to mention about the little stand by the Post Office close to where our place was in N.C. Anyway, someone built a very nice stand with a roof & the farmers would put their produce in it. It was an honor system situation. Believe it or not, that worked very well. The sign said, "Please take only what you need so others can have also". Small community, friendly, looked out for each other. I started the "Neighborhood Watch Program" while we were there. We all met at the church that was on our property. A very good thing.

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  24. Everything just looks so good. I love those types of farmers markets. I wish we had more near us. The fruits and veges look so pretty it's hard not to want to buy everything.

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  25. Oh yum, everything looks SO good! I'd probably choose exactly the things you did. I really love peaches, but melons are yummy, too.

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  26. These fruits and vegetables all look so mouthwatering, especially those lovely Georgia peaches! Fresh-grown produce definitely beats anything you can find on the supermarket shelves! Yes, it's that time of year when you can't help but daydream of spring and summer.

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  27. plans are in the works to have a farmer's market in my town this year... within walking distance! now how cool is that. thanks for helping me to daydream.

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  28. very cool i can't wait for market time around here. i love all those really cool roadside markets that have locally grown stuff.

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  29. Good evening everyone! We are back home from Atlanta and making up for time lost with our fur babies. They always miss their mommy and daddy when they are gone.

    Lola, I find your story so nice and only wish I could live in a place where the honor system exists. While in Germany, they close down most places in small villages for a long lunch hour. We came across a produce stand which was closed for lunch. We found a small box on a table with a noting of the prices for the fruits and veggies on the table. Take what you need and place money inside the box. No one would dare think of taking advantage of that system! The Saint and I loved that honor system in Germany. That was about 10 years ago and we wonder if that still holds true today as so much changes in the world from day to day. A nice memory for you to remind me of today Lola....

    I can hardly wait for our summer crops but we must first plant them so I will be patient as good things come to those which wait....

    Okay, off to give some fur girls some attention....

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  30. Looks like spring is in the air.

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  31. What a great looking market! We still have blackberries in the freezer from last year. That is one crop that we did good on (one time at least.

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  32. Oh, how I wish it was summer! This is such a great post...I like all those colorful and bright vegetables and fruits. Thank you for posting this!

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  33. My mouth is watering for all those yummy fruits! I miss the watermellon! You can't get a good watermellon in the winter. Usually they are flavorless. I still try to buy one though. I love peaches too. We have a tree and I can't wait for fresh peaches right off the tree!!!! We have strawberries at local area stands now. Not sure where they are coming from though. Maybe Southern CA area. When they are freshly picked here I buy them all the time. I love strawberries!

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  34. Dan, spring is in the air although a bit nippy this morning!

    Dot, We still have one container of peaches in the freezer! I made peach pies last week and they were yummy in the tummy....

    Parsec, it was my pleasure day dreaming with you! The colors are beautiful to the eyes...

    Cindee, Yep, the watermelons do not taste the same in the grocery stores. I had strawberry cake yesterday and it was soooo good! I am guessing south California for the recent berry's...

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  35. Great post, Skeeter,
    There are plants I can't grow because the bugs eat them. I go to the Farmer's Market that is in our old part of downtown, called, the Haymarket. It runs the first week of May through most of October.

    You won't find boiled peanuts, though. My husband and I got some on our vacation in 2007. We went to some roadside markets like some in your post, too.

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  36. Sue, We are lucky to have such nice markets in our life aren’t we? I find that most markets are located in old downtown areas. I guess due to tradition of the days past when that is where you went for fresh produce if you did not farm.

    We are not so crazy about the boiled peanuts. I had never heard of them until we moved to Germany and met a guy from South Carolina! He talked about boiled peanuts all the time then we moved to Georgia and boiled peanuts every where! lol

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