Farmers market.

We got up nice and early this morning so that we could go to our local farmer’s market. I forgot the camera which pissed me off because I was really hoping to post some pictures. I'll have to save that idea for a later time.

The farmer’s market is great source of fresh, locally produced products. There are lots of veggies, meats and eggs, of course, but there are lots of crafts, art pieces and prepared foods as well. We bought some salmon, halibut, organic mushrooms, multigrain bread, bacon and pepperoni. Tonight is pizza night so the bacon and pepperoni won't last long. The fish will be for supper later this week. I'm really interested to see how this bacon cooks up because it is naturally smoked with no sulphites or other preservatives added. This farmer’s animals are all free range, so lots of happy pigs, and he has a huge following of shoppers just lining up every weekend to buy his pork. This industry has really suffered in the last few years, along with beef producers, and I really do want to buy from local farmers because it will be a very sad day to see them close up shop. I don't want my meat products coming from other countries or even other provinces in Canada. So I've been really trying hard to buy products made here on the Witch’s Island as much as we can.



A couple of months ago we bought some really nice liquid honey there. I’ve been raving about it ever since and we bought up almost all the remaining stock to give as Christmas gifts, it was that good. It’s the best and the beekeeper is a super nice, too. She refers to the bees as “my girls”. You just can't get that interaction from buying a jar of honey off the shelf at your super-mega big-box grocery warehouse.



In fact, we’re pretty lucky that there is a second farmer’s market close to home. We were there last weekend and came across a booth selling exotic spices. I know that the spices are probably not grown locally but then they couldn’t have been, could they? The vendor is an independent small businesswoman and that’s what’s important. We bought some smokey Hungarian paprika, some hot chipotle chili powder and some Schezuan peppercorns. We’ve already used the paprika on some chicken nuggets we had for supper this week. We tried the chipotle chili powder on some oven “fries” the same evening. Both spices were excellent and different from others that we have tried, well worth the cost!

I would really recommend the extra time to find a farmers market near you. You will find some tasty foods, maybe make some new friends and help some farmers survive in what might one day be a forgotten trade.