I love the fresh vegetables of summer, and when I can get them locally grown, its even better. I finally went to a small farmer’s market that is a couple of miles from my house and now I’m going every Saturday. Valleydale Farmers Market (Facebook page) is a small market in a church parking lot and all of the vegetables and fruit are locally grown – none of that stuff imported from foreign countries that deteriorate in the transit time. I don’t have to look any further as the assortment is so varied, I can get everything I want. I buy okra, cucumbers, green tomatoes, red tomatoes, peaches, peas, butter beans, peppers, squash and corn. One of the vendors has fresh catfish that I want to try.
Kim, a friend of mine who used to live close by, moved about 40 miles away to a farm a couple of years ago. I went to her stand first to visit with her and her children and bought a bunch. She’s known for her homemade preserves and relishes and its well deserved.
Boozer Farms has the most colorful stand with all the various types of eggplant. I’m going to try the different varieties of eggplant as well as the squash.
Here are some of the other stalls. I didn’t take as many pictures as I wanted to. I guess it was because I was getting tired from carrying all my purchases. I had a market basket with me and it was quickly filled and very heavy.
I will have to miss attending this coming Saturday as I’m leaving tomorrow for the Atlanta Gift Market. But you can be sure that I will be there the following Saturday and each one afterwards until it closes at the end of the summer. The peaches are the absolute best and I buy some each week. I’m going to miss having them to munch on after I return home from Atlanta as the ones I bought this week have been eaten already. Bummer, but I will look forward to my next veggie trip!
I am growing some tomatoes and peppers myself in a tiny garden, but it won’t be enough to prevent me from buying more.
Phyllis
