Farmer's Markets

There is something very pleasurable about going to an open farmer's market, even if it is in the parking lot of the Oshawa Centre. I started going a few years ago on a quest to find heirloom tomatoes. My first tasting of heirloom tomatoes was in California back in 1999 and since then, I've always looked for them.

After trying out several farmer's markets, I found one lady, Maria, who had them. She had a stall at three different farmer's markets - one on Wednesday, Friday and then Sunday. The first year, I would follow her around to the market and pick up heirloom tomatoes. I was quickly recognized and known as her fanatical heirloom tomato customer. The following year, I started going to the farmer's market in Oshawa every Friday to pick up my heirloom tomatoes and other assorted produce.

I really enjoy walking around, looking at all the fruits and vegetables that our local farmers have grown. It's so much nicer than wheeling a shopping cart around a supermarket. I love talking to them, exchanging recipes and tidbits about various foods. I love that our fruit purveyor tells me all about the different varietals of the peaches, pears and plums that they have and what makes them unique. In a supermarket, the varietal is never known - it just says "Ontario Peach". I am particular that I only like freestones and that is never even listed at the supermarket.

I also like that everything is so fresh. Strawberries picked at sunrise that morning - bursting with flavour, aromatic as a strawberry should be and as shiny as in a magazine photo; tomatoes, with a heavy scent of the vines they are grown from; corn, crisp and firm with just a hint of dew from the morning when they were harvested; zucchini - more than a foot long and thicker than my fist. I also savour the items that I can't normally get from the supermarket, fava beans in the shell, fresh peas - still in their pods, fresh dill weed, bunches of basil as big as a flower bouquet, yellow and orange beets and garlic not from China. The apple selection during the fall is impressive with Royal Galas, Cortlands, Crispin, Jonagold, Honeycrisp, Paula Red, Northern Spy, Macintosh and many more.

Last year I was pregnant when I was going to the market. In fact, I didn't make it to the last week they were open because I was in the hospital giving birth. There is a nice personable feeling of getting to know these purveyors and them being interested in us. Many of them were guessing the sex of the baby and this year we got to introduce Corwin to our favourite farmers. It's a lot easier to shop this year, especially having Corwin in his stroller. We no longer have to lug around our heavy bags, laden with fresh fruits and vegetables. Everything just gets put into his undercarriage basket. Although he doesn't really understand what I'm saying yet, I enjoy pointing out different items and telling him what they are. When PB comes home, the trip to the farmer's market is a mandatory family affair. PB likes going, as the smells remind him of his childhood in Poland at his aunt and uncle's farm. He also likes being able to pick and choose what I'll be making him for lunch, after we get home from the market. His favourite is a heirloom tomato salad with basil, plenty of red onions, fleur de sel (that I picked in France a few years ago) and a drizzling of good olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Something so simple yet is the ultimate summer salad.

Corwin has also had his fair share of market goodies this year. Fresh musk melon, peaches, blueberries, zucchini, eggplant, summer squash, roasted red peppers and parsnips. He's got a basket of pears from todays excursion waiting for him, as well as some Gala apples. Sadly he'll have to wait until next year to sample the mouthwatering strawberries, but there is a basket and two bunches of fresh rhubarb waiting to be made into a pie for PB.