PSA: Farmer's Markets

Hey, any of you who live within easy distance of a farmer's market, and who aren't taking advantage of this fact are missing a real treat.

Craig and I are both completely sugared out at the moment... from corn. Fresh corn on the cob. (Put a half inch of water in the stock pot, shuck corn frantically while water heats, stick stem ends in water, keep the rest as upright as possible, cover and steam for five minutes.) The farmer said the sugar levels in the corn were testing higher than anywhere else in the country, and I thought "heh... boastful farmer". OMG, though, he wasn't kidding. We ate two ears a piece and I couldn't eat a third. I'm nibbling on tomato salad right now, just trying to get things back in balance. It's unreal.

Fresh picked organic rasperries for $6 a half flat (hope y'all don't mind me bringing some to gaming). Green beads that look like they were carved out of jade. At least eight distinct varieties of summer squash. Okra. Eggplants. Gypsy peppers... (And fingerling potatoes, carrots, green onions and shallots, and chard and baby bok choi... And I'm not even touching the real selection.)

There seem to be farmer's markets popping up everywhere -- even a number of weekday markets, which is a lovely thing. (Kirkland, even, has a Wednesday afternoon / evening one.) And for those of you close to Redmond... the market at RTC really is one of the nicest in the area. A really good selection of vendors (two or three local cheesemakers, for heavens sakes!) and one of the best sites I've seen in this country. The outdoor market at Ephesus might top it, though...

Oh -- and flowers! I don't know how many of you are aware of the flower market locally, but the Seattle area is becoming known for having one of the best, maybe the best fresh local flower markets in the country. There's been this interesting synergy mostly between immigrant farming families and promoters of local and organic agriculture. And the result is that we have more flowers and more of an unusual selection than you'll find most places.

Even better, they're grown locally, and even the ones that aren't Organic are usuallly grown with pretty friendly methods. (Compared to say the out of country scary ass tons of pesticides in a green house and people being forced to work before the chemicals clear and gettings sick, etc. etc. flower market that feeds most of the mainstream flower industry.)

So buy flowers, just for fun, and know you're support a unique part of Seattle culture, local agriculture, and doing something kind for the earth.

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Hike, hike, hiketty hike.

So after finding that the open Taiji practice with another teacher from the same lineage as our very first Chen teacher had apparently been entirely taken over by the Walk for the Cure, Craig and I went over the first bit of Deception Creek trail. (Nope, not Grieder Lake. Quick vote, and we decided to go somewhere we hadn't been before.) So, after a quick stop by the Sultan Cafe, away we went.

We only went, oh, maybe two and a half miles or so up. It's not the most distinctive hike -- big trees, tumbling water, ferns, swamp lily and mushrooms and Douglas squirrels are pretty much the norm, really. But it is a nice hike. With the most extraordinary thick, green moss in the lower sections. The trees had moss, the rocks had moss, the ground has moss, even the stones sticking up out of the creek had little moss toupees. A couple of miles mostly of gentle up, and my knee was a little sore (the ankle doesn't hurt much, but it's instability does get to my knee after long enough on rough ground) and Craig was worried about mosquitos, so we headed back. (I wasn't worried about mosquitos on my own behalf. No self respecting mosquito will so much as glance in my direction if Craig's around.)

It felt a little more like a walk in the woods than a hike, really, but enough moving around that I feel nicely sleepy and relaxed, now. And I am teaching tomorrow, so if I fried my knee I'd regret it later.

Getting home, I attempted quiche. The crust needed work (generally my crusts need work, and I was in too much of a rush to properly chill the dough) but otherwise it was pretty much just what I was trying for. Which is to say it was a nice mass of carmelized onions, and sauteed peppers, and a few different kinds of squash (sauteeing these all reduced their moisture so they didn't make the quiche watery -- which was the theory, and happily it worked out in practice) with a little bit of savory custard to hold it all together. We didn't have any regular milk, and I wasn't going to use all cream, so I added buttermilk, and the tartness of the buttermilk set off the veggies beautifully.

I'm not usually a big fan of eggs, but these were fresh from the market this morning. Maybe they'll do something for my blood iron levels, which have been kind of low recently.