I like to go at 7am to avoid the crowds. I took a few pictures of the market atmosphere.
Sorry my pictures are dark. The sky was grey this morning and the market is under an elevated road (which you can see in the pictures). Dan and I were talking this morning and we think there are approximately 75 vendors at the market carrying things from fresh wheat grass juice and coffee, to mushrooms, homemade salsas and of course produce.
As always we stopped at our two usual locations. First we went to see Rudy at Cat’s Paw Organic Farm. He is the nicest guy and is always full of good information. From him we bought parsley, basil and tomato plants to put into our garden. We also got Swiss chard, spicy lettuce mix, green beans, tomatoes, potatoes, and cucumbers. Next we went to Calvert Farms our CSA. There we chatted with Pam (the farmer) and got collards, dandelion greens, cilantro, red leaf lettuce, ginger, strawberries, 2 borage plants and 1 bay plant. Here are pictures of our haul today, all local and organic:
I also took some pictures of the general area where the market is located. Just outside the market is the diner, from the Barry Levinson movie "Diner". Now it is a coffee shop.
Here is a picture of an old local church that I thought made a nice picture.
This is some ornamentation on the top of one the building near where we parked. I am usually so busy getting to where I am going I don’t look up. But there are some very interesting old buildings in Baltimore.
Here is a picture of city hall. I have always liked this building.
Last but not least is a picture of the outside of Cafe Hon. This restaurant is in the neighborhood to the south of where we live. The giant flamingo always makes me smile. I can't speak to the food since we have never been there but the flamingo is great. LOL
I hope this gives you all a better sense of the city where I live. I will try to do more of this in the future if anyone is interested let me know.
Now I need to run and make Dan and I some breakfast. Talk to you all later. I hope you are having a great day!
How nice. Sounds like a great morning so far! Thanks for sharing these pictures. Can't wait to see what you do with all of that great produce.
ReplyDeleteHeather,
ReplyDeleteThis is how we spend every Sunday morning when the farmers' market is open. I love walking around talking to the farmers and picking out produce.
I hope this post gives everyone an idea of our typical Sunday morning and the city. Most people think of the tv shows "Homicide" or the "The Wire" when they think of Baltimore but that is not an accurate representation of the city. At least not the part of the city I know. ;-)
talk to you later,
Alicia
What a fun post, Ali! I'm so envious of that farmer's market! I bruised my knuckles trying to reach through my computer screen to snag a double fistful of those strawberries! :-)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you included the photos of the buildings, too! I love seeing beautiful historic buildings, and you always take such great photos of them!
The latest issue of VegNews did a profile on Baltimore, titled "Charm City" and I thought of you when I read it. They had a blurb about the Waverly Farmers' Market", which I take it is different than the Baltimore Farmers' Market you go to. (Come on, you guys don't need two of them - please send one out to my organic produce wasteland, wouldya?) ;-)
Sounds like a fun morning, despite the gray skies. Thanks for sharing it! Wish I could send you our cloudless blue skies and warm sunshine... trade some for those strawberries? :-D
Lalo,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you liked this post. Those strawberries are absolutely scrumptious. I have had one or two already.
Thanks for letting me know you liked the architecture shots. I love stuff like that, nice to know you do too.
Charm City is the nickname for Baltimore. The Waverly farmers' market takes place on Saturday and is all year long. It is closer to us than the downtown one but the parking is more difficult. We prefer the Sunday market which is bigger.
The sun has started to come out here but I appreciate you offering to send some of yours. ;-)
talk to you later,
Ali
That produce is beautiful. So glad you're farmer's market is open; always a cause to celebrate in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteRose,
ReplyDeleteThanks, I love the farmers' market. Even though we go very early in the morning I still enjoy it. That isn't something I say about most acitivities at that hour. ;-)
talk to you later,
Ali
it took me a sec to understand that flamingo, funky!
ReplyDeleteborage plants, what do you do with them?
very nice haul, have fun this week playing with all that, veggies are so beautiful huh? although, thats A LOT of ginger!
Michelle,
ReplyDeleteSorry I didn't explain the Flamingo. It is the symbol of the restaurant there are pink lights and other "flamingo themed" things.
Borage is a plant high in GLA (gamma linoleic acid) which most people are deficient in. I figured if they grew I would figure out what to do with them. ;-)
When we got home and photographed the veggies I immediately wished I have bought more. The ginger we use in our green tea, and I cook with it often. That pound of ginger will be gone in about 10 days. Scary right?
talk to you later,
Ali
Your CSA looks great! I love farmers markets...we have a great one here that I hit up every single weekend for local, organic produce...it makes me so happy, lol!
ReplyDeleteCourtney
Courtney,
ReplyDeleteWe love our farmers' market and CSA too. It is so nice to know the people that are growing your food. Glad you have a good market near you too. Local produce makes me far happier than it should too! ;-)
I hope you are having a good weekend,
Alicia
I love those pictures! The farmer's market looks great. The city hall reminded me of Philadelphia's city hall. I took pics of it on a trip and have them in my living room (in black & white). Although I love the country, seeing those pics makes me long for the city!
ReplyDeleteMorgan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know you liked the pictures. I guess it would make sense that the Philly city hall would look similar since it is reasonably close and probably a similar age. ;-)
talk to you later,
Alicia
Hi, Alicia. Great post! You are so lucky to have such a wonderful farmers market so close to home. I have one here that is cute, but with maybe 12 vendors.
ReplyDeleteI also enjoy the scenery shots. It's funny, really, we don't live too far from one another (I am in Northern Virginia - Manassas to be exact) but in all my 45 years, I have been to Baltimore only once.
Thanks for sharing!
~Lolly
Lolly,
ReplyDeleteThanks for letting me know you liked the city pics. I don't get to Northern Virginia too often either so you aren't the only one who stays close to home. ;-)
If you get over to Arlington I love "The Mediterranean Bakery", it has great stuff. A few times a year I drive to Arlington just to stock up on unusual supplies.
thanks again for the input I really appreciate it,
Alicia