M83: MMMMM’ the farmers came back

Last week we went without our farmers while they had Easter off. This week I told the farmer from The Rainbow Farms in Fallbrook that it was ‘M’ week. He said, mmmmmm’ the blood oranges are delicious. Cracked me up. I bought a half dozen as they had so many.

It is funny, for some reason I just wasn’t sure what I was hungry for this week. My primary mission on Sunday was to visit the woman who sells worms to buy a bag of worms in coconut hull bedding. But, of all weeks for her not to come . . . The new community wormery will just have to wait until next week.

Another oddity for me was how many fruits and sweets I came home with this week. I am not much for sweet (even fruit) usually and almost never eat desserts. But on Sunday I broke the patterns.

Meringue
The fact that I spotted meringue, which I haven’t had for a long time, was only part of the appeal. The Ludwig German Bakery booth had Rhubarb meringue dessert. I love both of these. I explained to Rebecca how I usually try something new at the farmer’s market. Besides, I got to use my one German line, “Das ist eine gute idée.” Ludwig’s is out of Capistrano Beach. I am glad there are these booths of prepared foods for the crowds because it is a good draw. I can’t afford to buy dessert every week, but this was a treat.

Mandarin oranges
I picked out a bunch of really tiny mandarin oranges from a pile of overly ripe fruit. I like this group of Mexican farmers and wanted to buy something from their stand. As an afterthought I bought a bunch of Haas avocados also at the end of their shelf life. I will eat well the first days of this week.

Middle Eastern cheese
A couple of weeks ago I got sheep’s cheese at the Middle Eastern booth. It was so delicious I came back for more. There isn’t anything in this booth I wouldn’t want to buy. I make myself refrain because it is packaged and priced for profit. Good on him. I just can’t justify the price.

My weekly treat is the cream cheese samosa from the African tent. I should get a picture of this family of young men who serve the lines of people each week. They sell other east African seasoned dishes of rice and black-eyed peas, besides the samosa. But I usually get my ‘fix’ and move on. The middle brother (guessing here on ages) asked me if I wanted a napkin. I told him I don’t use paper. He looked at me so shocked and said, what do you use? I said, cloth. It can then be washed. He beamed as he realized how simple the answer was.

We forget such incredibly simple things. And these mini-interactions with the vendors and farmers feel healthy. I read a statistic last week comparing conversations at farmers markets compared to grocery stores. The difference is striking.

Flickr Colin Smith's Meringue photo
Flickr Mandarin orange photo
Flickr Samosa photo