What do you buy at your farmer's market?

I usually look for things that I don't grow myself, i.e., salad greens, green beans. I also like to look for unusual things, my last trip I bought both Daikon and scapes...things that I can't find at my local grocery store and that I love. There is also a local dairy farmer that makes amazing cheese and I stop by her stand to see what she's got going.

I also have to stop at Farm Boy's, a food vendor that makes the most amazing breakfast burritos.

Downtown Des Moines has an AMAZING Farmer's Market, one of the top in the country but it gets PACKED...I mean 5,000 to 10,000 on a Saturday morning so I make sure when I do go to go when the opening bell rings at 7:00am and then I'm usually out of there by 8:30am when the crowds start.

Today all I bought was peaches, plums, and tomatoes. I'll buy those until they go out of season. They are so good.

I don't usually buy meat or prepared foods although there are several stands at our market. It's very, very expensive - more than organic at Whole Foods.

I don't like the coffee that the one guy sells.

So that's me at the farmers market.

We have a lady at ours who makes homemade egg noodles. So good! And I like to fine tomatoes ripened on the vine.

Other than that, I like to buy fresh fruits and vegetables that are in season. I like the idea of supporting small farmers and everything is nice and fresh.

Brownies and cheese curds, usually. (Our market starts really early, so at the beginning, there are a lot of starter plants and flowers, plus baked goods and dairy, but no actual produce.)

When things start to be in season, I will buy corn on the cob, tomatoes, cantaloupe and watermelon (especially yellow watermelon!), and, towards the fall, apples and lots of squash (acorn-type, not zucchini type).

I will occasionally grab berries, peapods, broccoli, bok choy, or kale, depending on my mood/grocery needs. Maybe a pumpkin, although not so much anymore after I realized that my roasted squash seeds taste just like pumpkin seeds without all the work.

I haven't gone regularly this season for a variety of reasons.
But when I do I buy what looks good in the way of fresh fruits and veggies. Early in the season we buy some flowering plants and hanging baskets. I used to buy fresh flowers, but not so much any more. I will buy a mini pie sometimes, just enough for two to share. I might buy other baked goods, depending on what we have at home. I buy frozen brats in different flavors. I have bought other meat too. I might buy caramel apples or doughnuts occasionally.

When they come into season I buy tomatoes and corn.
I used to buy pumpkins for fall decorating but a couple years ago I bought an assortment of carved and painted wood pumpkins - at the market. Now I buy a few small gourds and pumpkins to add to the decor.

We have great vendors for fresh lettuces, and pasta, plus jewelry and furniture, and tons of food options. I like the Crepe Guy, and we have a wood fire pizza vendor among other choices. There is also an indoor market that runs all year, plus a cafe run by a farm that used to have a big booth at the outside market.

I don't go very often so when I do I go hog wild and buy lots of everything that is in season. Out of season stuff comes from the same place stores get it so I can get it cheaper in the stores.

I buy my beef and chicken from a GMO free farmer in my area. But I will buy fish and shellfish at the market because no one around me sells fresh.

We near live an amazing farmers market and I try to go at least 3 times a month. You can get almost anything there, but I usually get produce we don't grow in our garden. This morning I picked up two bags of peaches. So tasty!

Peaches, first and foremost. And fresh corn on the cob. My tomato plants are just *puny* this year; no idea why. So I've been buying other people's heirloom tomatoes. Cucumbers, carrots, turnips, okra -- and today I bought a bar of handmade soap for $7! The soap-makin' lady wore me down!

The farmer's market I go to is more than half an hour away, but it has really grown since last year. Now you have to get there early to get the good produce, and it's really crowded! But I love how festive and happy the crowd is, and that dogs are welcome. There is a big farmer's market downtown that started banning dogs last year. They might as well have hung up a sign that said, "Chirping Crickets Not Welcome." Love me, love my dog!

I bought 5# of Georgia peaches, 2 kohlrabi, a bunch of red carrots and a bunch of radishes.  Love the farmers market.

 

So far this season it has been fresh eggs, fresh lamb, garlic scapes, fresh currants, zucchini, new red skin potatoes, garlic, jalapeños, tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet corn, and honey. Fairfax County Government sponsors about 10 local farmers markets with the stipulation that everything sold there has to be locally grown and produced - no mass production products.

We are having fresh ground lamb burgers for dinner tonight with sweet corn.

Tomorrow I am canning bread and butter pickles - my DH picked up the pickling cukes in WV for $1 per pound!

I always buy heirloom tomatoes, peppers and baby cucumbers. Tzatziki from the Greek guy, sometimes pita bread too. Sometimes we get cookies or macarons or fudge. We nearly always get dinner from one of the food trucks, since the market hours conveniently coincide with dinner time We love our farmers market!

Last time I went I got a couple jars of my favorite salsa, some 3 cheese salad dressing and a bottle of goat milk hand lotion. .

We sell organic lemonade with various homemade syrups at 3 farmer's markets per week. They're served in mason jars with paper straws  

Since we're in Colorado, we haven't had a lot of produce yet but I always buy handmade tamales and grass fed beef. There are several booths with soaps and we'll start getting some good veggies soon!