To Market

August is my most favorite month of the year. It is warm and lazy. The summer crickets start to chirp. Our gardens start producing all those beautiful vegetables and herbs!!! It feels like we have been waiting forever, but it is so worth it. So, I bought this cute shopping bag to make my trips to the farmers markets even more exciting(my daughter just called me a loser). Well, at least I am a fashionable loser. Back to the market talk.

I found this book, pictured below, written by a local author named George E. W. Cormack. This book, "Northeast Ohio Agrilocator" is an invaluable tool. All foodies in Ohio should buy this book. He lists all of the food festivals, farmers markets, CSA'a, and auctions in Northeast Ohio. He lists them by county and by type of produce each farm sells. He also has a chapter on the Westside Market and throws in some tasty looking recipes using the produce. His main purpose is to "offer our hard working Ohio farmers a chance to promote their efforts to deserving Ohio customers". What a guy!

So, last summer I did a post on the Kamm's Corner Farmers market. This summer I would like to explore some of the other markets I have found in this book. I decided to drive out about 30 minutes to Oberlin, Ohio to check out their market this week with my friend Tina. Oberlin is a cool little college town, so, we got side-tracked by this restaurant/juice bar called Sprouts on the way. We got ourselves a concoction called Mermaid Sweat which was made from greens, ginger, coconut water, and lemon juice. Good stuff(don't be scared off by the name). All the juices are juiced right in front of you and worth the wait. All the menu items are free of gluten, wheat, meat, and dairy. So, you can feel absolutely good about anything you order there. After that healthy diversion, we were ready to hit the market.

The Oberlin market was a bit smaller than I expected, but, there are only local farmers, so I guess that makes sense.




My friend Tina( below) is picking out her Ohio grown corn. Check out those lovely bunches of Swiss chard and giant zuccs. I am kind of obsessed with Swiss chard lately. It's kind of hard to find in a lot of standard grocery stores.

There was also a bread guy which I regret to say I did not catch his name. So at this time, he will be known as "the bread and cheese guy". He is easy to find. But his sourdough is amazing! He lovingly bakes 80 loaves weekly. He has a small but delicious variety of cheeses. I purchased a chive cheese which is addicting and now gone.

These guys were also at the market. Cute, but not for sale.

Here are my goods.....

I wish I could say that I made something exciting with them, but, I pretty much just ate that produce with a good olive oil and some salt and pepper. Hope you are out enjoying summer and having some interesting food experiences. If any of you have discovered any cool farmers markets, feel free to share.