Saturdays

Saturdays are farmers market days. The market opens at 8 am, and we generally try our best to be there by 8:30. On occasion, we’ve either had a lazier morning or had to do things that kept us from arriving promptly only to discover that an hour makes a world of difference to the crowd level and even, at times, the supply level of the farmers! On days like today, getting there that early makes a big difference relative to the heat — it was already 86 degrees when we arrived.

I love visiting the market. It gives me a whole new appreciation for eating with the seasons. We don’t really succeed at eating entirely seasonally, but it really has made a difference on our diet. So far this year, we’ve enjoyed seeing the spring onions and garlic emerge in the market, the disappearance of winter greens, and the smells of ripe, fresh strawberries. Today we said farewell to the blueberry seller for another year — we bought a pound of blueberries from him every week for five weeks, and today we bought two pounds just to be able to freeze some for later. The produce bought at the market is vastly superior to that purchased at the grocery store, since the farmers can pick the fruit once it’s ripe instead of needing to pick for transport. You can even smell the difference just walking by.

Our usual habit is to pick up a pastry from one of the bakers — they truly make the best bear claws you’ve ever eaten, so good that they’re worth waiting for the fresh batch if they’ve run out before we arrive (we’re not the only ones who realize how excellent they are!). We take our breakfast and sit on a bench at the far side of the park from the market and watching the bustling. The community the market is located in has a genuine love for and support of small businesses, and it’s satisfying to watch people put those beliefs in action. Sometimes, you can hear music from a visiting band drift over half the park. Today there didn’t really seem to be anyone there with music, but I suspect that had a lot to do with the heat — the market was full of people trying their best to finish their business as quickly as possible so they could go home or wherever else they go to beat the heat.

After the market we drive over to our co-op, which has the most marvelous bulk section. This is also why we don’t always succeed at eating seasonally — frequently we’re able to find whatever ingredients we’re missing here. Sometimes we can’t, and then we just go without, but they can usually fill the need. More and more of our shopping has been done at the market these days, though, so our shopping basket has gotten smaller and smaller. The co-op is where we tend to buy our dairy products, since this is the least expensive place to buy most of it (the raw milk is the exception — we buy that at the grocery store where it’s about 50 cents cheaper per bottle). We almost always visit the bulk section, too — the bulk section is a big part of how we manage our grocery budget, especially since you simply can’t beat the prices for spices here; it’s really amazing.

There’s a rhythm to our Saturdays because of our need to do our grocery shopping on that day. There are a few things we buy at a regular grocery store during the week, but that list is incredibly short these days. But I like the consistency. I’ve noticed, too, that we’re not the only ones who do it this way. In fact, there are frequently times when I see people at the farmers market and then see them again a little bit later at the c0-op! All of this requires thought and planning. We generally need to have a good sense of what we’re going to eat the next week by Saturday morning so that we can get what we need for the week. We don’t live in the same city as the market, either, so whatever gets forgotten on Saturdays almost always just needs to wait for the following week. I find, though, that this actually makes life less stressful, and that is definitely something I really appreciate (unless it’s Saturday and I realise that I’ve forgotten to make my list — then there’s a moment of panic, but between the two of us we get it done relatively quickly, so it comes out alright in the end). It’s a big change from before we live close to a good farmers market — back then, I didn’t really have a set day for grocery shopping, and meal plans could get tossed to wind at the drop of a hat, but it’s a good change.