Winter Trip to the Union Square Farmers' Market

Last week, I bought two huge, shiny apples from my local produce stand and excitedly bit into one, once home. Ugh. It was the mealiest, softest, least appealing apple I could recall coming across. I started to fantasize about the delicious honeycrisp apples, one of the many varieties available during the right season here in the Northeast, and decided to take action. The following Saturday, I dragged Ed along to the farmers' market that occurs four days a week at Union Square. 

Bean sprouts, galore.

It was an unseasonably warm day, even for our unseasonably warm winter, and so there were lots of people milling around. I expected this, but what I did not expect was the huge variety of produce (and other products) available for purchase. Food is trucked in from local farms, and so while supermarkets carry strawberries from Mexico and oranges from Florida throughout the year, the fare at the farmers' market is heavily dependent on what kinds of crops can be grown in winter weather. I sort of figured there would be a few apple stands and maybe some beets, but I was delighted to be wrong. Ed and I wandered past all sorts fascinating stands, which took up two entire sides of the huge square. I found my much-anticipated honeycrisp apples - just the right texture, though not as sweet as they are during autumn when they're really in season - and bought some onions, parsnips, and other vegetables I'd need for recipes over the next few days.

These bizarre-looking carrots would never sell in a traditional grocery store, but they tasted great and were an adventure to peel and cut!

In addition to lots of root vegetables, we found lots of varieties of apples, spinach, cabbage, jars of pickles, and fresh fish. There was also a stand with coolers full of exotic meats, like pheasant and ground venison. There was ostrich jerky and ostrich bones, roasted and ready for dogs at one stand, and another sold sheep's milk soap, gorgeous wool, and hand-knitted hats. (I spent a lot of time examining the construction and patterns.)  Because a sign told me I could, I sampled some very bizarre looking fruits labelled "ground cherries" that alleged to look like tomatoes but taste like pineapples.  Removal of the papery husk and sampling of said tiny yellow fruit confirmed this to be true.  There were loaves of fresh bread, pies, and cookies, and apple cider, which made the whole place smell deliciously wintery, and tons of potted herbs and ornamental plants, all of which looked tempting.  Ed bought some cat grass, something he's been talking about for a while, for his furry charges.    

One of Ed's cats, the one who needs to lose at least 5 pounds, thank goodness, immediately started  scarfing down the grass once he got it home. His other cat was less enthusiastic.

This is not to say that everything was fantastic.  The apples at one stand all looked quite battered, and at another the carrots were decidedly flexible and the leafy vegetables looked wilted.  For the most part, though, everything looked fresh and, if bizarrely shaped, quite yummy.  Prices were reasonable, if not exactly rock bottom, but I had a great time browsing and will definitely be back. The farmers' market is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday all year, so I will have plenty of opportunities.   

Ostrich bones for dogs