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Washington State Farmers Market WeekMeet the Winners of the 2008 Farmers Market Week ChallengeChallenge A - Buy Local! - Winner - Shannon Stevens, Olympia I spent a total of $135 in a week, at three farmers' markets: Shelton, Olympia, and Tumwater. This is all my weekly food, except for soymilk and juice. The only essential food group I can't purchase at a market is dark chocolate! (And I also buy myself fresh flowers at the Shelton Market, just cuz.) Challenge B - Try It, You’ll Like It! - Winner - Raquel Palmas, University PlaceMy friend and I took our children to the Tacoma 6th Avenue Farmer's Market on Tuesday August 5th. Even though it was a smaller market, there was a good mix of farm fresh goods (fruits, vegetables, meat, My 4 year old daughter Sophie tried raspberries for the first time. She decided she didn't care for the taste, but at least she tried. We purchased some corn on the cob and grilled it on the bbq grill for dinner and it was delicious. I have attached pictures of the kids with their faces painted, and one of Sophie enjoying the music. Challenge C - Yes You Can! - Winner - Judith Loomis, RichlandI guess I am meeting challenge c, though I could go right down the list. I am spending way too much money (a.) at farmers' markets, way over my "food dollar", especially when I canned Rainier cherries at $93 for 20 quarts! (Or was it only 14?) But back to c., my son and his wife were coming from Seattle to Richland to can peaches with me, depending upon the harvest of my current favorites, Diamond Princess. I planned to go to the Pasco market on Wednesday, buy them if ready, and let the "kids" know they could come on the weekend. Well, the peaches weren't ready yet, but the farmer across the aisle had New Generation, my old favorite because they don't need to be scalded and iced to peel. There weren't enough to sell me a whole box, so I ordered one to pick up at the Kennewick market on Thursday. Thursday I drove to Kennewick from Richland and brought home two boxes of the New Generations, laying them out on every counter to ripen before Saturday. Friday I visited the Richland Farmers' Market and bought the corn, melons and other produce for the weekend's meals, along with some other peaches (Scarlet Lady, a milder variety) just to eat. Burning gas to buy produce at three different markets isn't my usual routine, but this was a special case! My son brought along a one-burner propane stove he uses to make beer, we borrowed a canner from a friend, and three of us were finished with the project (two canner loads on the kitchen stove and one outdoors) by Saturday afternoon. People and peaches went back to Seattle, and I now have a box of Diamond Princess ripening on counters for my own labors this Friday or Saturday. Now back to the list, just for fun: For b, I tried a new peach crumble recipe (Cook's Illustrated) by baking the topping first and transferring it to the top of the fruit before baking together. Terrific. For d, I take a basket so my boxes of berries don't get so mangled in bags, and I take my own canvas bags. By the nature of the produce, the farmers still put most things in plastic to weigh them, though. For e, Today, I thanked two people whose Gravenstein, Ginger Gold and Early Gold peaches combined to make a terrific big apple pie Sunday. An oven malfunction combined with a little user brain freeze produced a very burned crust over part of the jelly roll pan of apples and bottom curst, but I salvaged enough squares to take to a party. The flavor was memorable. I also talked to the person who sold me goldenrod about finding out about its relationship to sagebrush and how crazy I must be to buy goldenrod, when I grew up in New York State, with that "weed" everywhere. I think I am really taking advantage of Farmers' Markets! Challenge D - Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! Winner - Valerie Johnstone, Port TownsendI have at least half a dozen cloth bags and keep 3 in my car at all times. When I bring a bag of groceries into the house, I empty the groceries and immediately place the bag on top of my handbag by the front door, then take it with me next time I go to the car. That way I always have bags in my car. I'm now training myself to use my bags for other types of shopping, too - e.g. department stores and pharmacies. I don't know why I didn't do this before. I guess it's just a matter of habit. When I go to potlucks or am traveling in the car, I use baskets for packing and carrying, rather than paper or plastic bags. I'm a citizen representative for the Jefferson County Solid Waste Advisory Committee and do all I can to encourage citizens to REDUCE the number of paper and plastic bags they use, RE-USE their cloth bags, and
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dairy, and flowers), local restaurants, small retail vendors and even a musician playing her music.
RECYCLE any paper or plastic that they do acquire.
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