Shopping at Farmer’s Markets

Ah Farmer’s markets, a glorious time of year! With long dreary winter that Columbus goes through, the farmer’s markets are a very welcome sight. It signifies that winter is over and we are about to head into an abundance of amazing food stuffs.

Scott and I headed up to the Worthington Farmer’s Market on opening day.  It was gorgeous outside with Mother Nature deciding to give us a break from all the rain we had been dealing with.  We met up with our friend Bob early that morning to walk around.  He left us early though to go attend to his girly things (love you Bob!) so Scott and I grabbed some breakfast.

I would explain to you my love for sausage but somehow I’m pretty sure that is going to get twisted around into something entirely different than what I mean. Instead I’ll just tell you how much I love a good breakfast sandwich.

It’s completely true, a breakfast sandwich is such a comforting meal and much to my delight, there was a food truck making these babies up that morning.

Speckled Hen Farms had a food truck dishing out all kinds of sandwich fixin’s made fresh and with ingredients straight from their farm.  I had a egg and chicken sausage sandwich with pepperjack cheese.  All local (except for the cheese I believe) and super tasty!

After breakfast we made our way around the market.  I got a chance to pick up some veggies and purchase something I haven’t used before.

Maple sugar! Dried maple syrup so that the sugar crystals are left.  If you add water to it, you’ll reconstitute it back to syrup.  Pretty nifty, right?  I bought some and have used it experimentally in some pancakes.  It smells heavenly! It has a very deep and dense maple aroma.

I’m not a weekly farmer’s market shopper though I wouldn’t mind turning into one. I would much rather stroll outside early in the morning looking at food than having to go inside a building with fake light, fake mist, and light rock blaring over the speakers.

The upside to farmer’s markets is that you can get exposed to things that you didn’t know were in your area.  That’s always a win for everyone!

Do you shop your local farmer’s markets? What’s your favorite part of shopping at farmer’s markets?

14 thoughts on “Shopping at Farmer’s Markets

  1. Donnie says:

    It’s a connection to the source. You can learn more about the food you’re purchasing…when it was picked, where the farm is located, growing practices, mission of the producer, etc. And it’s super fresh. Just as important, it’s a financial transaction with the source. The farmer grows the food, gives it to you, and gets money in their hands directly, keeping dollars in our local economy. Otherwise, you’re paying for other overhead costs and transactions and actually getting a lesser product.

    • Donnie, Welcome to Food Embrace! Yes I feel the same way. You can see who produced the food you’re buying and you have the chance to speak with them and make a connection.

  2. Nicole says:

    I go EVERY week unless I’m not home for some reason. Worthington is my fave, plus it’s the closest. Those Speckled Hen breakfast sandwiches are DELISH! I also recently picked up some of that maple sugar and love to sprinkle it on all kinds of things.

    Right now garlic scapes are available if that’s something new you want to try. I bought a bunch last weekend to pickle, and plan to get more this weekend- plus you can make pesto with them. I’m also loving the local strawberries…providing the husband doesn’t eat them all at once!

    • Nicole, nope I have not had garlic scrapes before! I do want to check them out but haven’t seen any at the markets I’ve been too. I’ll be on the look out!

  3. The farmers market here is just so-so. I go about once a month and buy local only veggies and sometimes some baked goods. I love going!!

  4. I LOVE farmer’s markets!!!!! :)

    Unfortunately, the season doesn’t start here until the last weekend of June. But you can bet once it gets going I’ll be there every week. Especially now that one of my co-worker is going to be selling home-made pizzas!!

    • TGW, the season got a late start here this year because we’ve had so much rain and cold weather. Hopefully I’ll see more produce popping up soon!

  5. Heidi says:

    I love shopping at farmers markets. I try to go at least every few weeks to get fresh and RIPE veggies and fruits.

  6. I hit up the Worthington market every weekend unless I’ll be out of town, and then I try to get to the Dublin market on Wednesday instead. I like keeping my money local, and how much better the freshly picked stuff tastes.

Leave a Reply to Nicole Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.