Baltimore Farmers' Market - May 24, 2009

Today was a quick trip to the farmers' market to pick up our goodies from Pam at the CSA and visit Rudy and head home.

The CSA distribution at Calvert Farm was 8 shares today and we picked up the following: 2 bunches of baby spinach, 1 big bok choy, 1 bunch of spring onions, 1 large bunch of dandelion greens, 2 pounds of asparagus, and 1 large bunch of collard greens.

I choose the bok choy and collards because they are part of the cruciferous family. The Italian in me loves dandelion greens and has a nice pasta planned for them. I always buy asparagus when it is in season. The baby spinach made me want to make a spinach and lemon pesto. I have been wanting to try collards as a whole wheat wrap substitute for sandwiches. I think the bok choy is going to go into a stir fry or bibimbap, but I am not positive. Frequently I change my mind between the time I buy produce and it makes it way to the pan. By documenting my plans, hopefully I will stick closer to my original thoughts.

We picked up two bags of spring greens from Rudy at Cat's Paw Organic, for our daily salad. I love the freshness of salad that is freshly picked versus trucked for hundreds if not thousands of miles.

If you haven't tried shopping at your local farmers' market, I think you should give it a try. The quality of the produce we get at our farmers' market is far superior to what we buy at the supermarket. I am always surprised at how long the farmers' market produce stays fresh in our refrigerator. While we do try to eat all our fresh produce within a week, it does last longer than that if you don't consume it quite that quickly.