Blue eggs and beets

Beets, multiple lettuces, basil, cilantro, kale, squash, dill, cabbage, kohlrabi, garlic, and green onions are in the share time around. Being away on vacation means it is a dear friend who is enjoying the bounty. I cannot help but daydream of uses and recipes for each item. Roasted beet and kale salad, hand-made pesto, coleslaw, and summer squash soup. Is it possible to have produce withdrawal symptoms?

While on this vacation, I visited a small farmer’s market. My favorite vendor was the woman selling various produce she had raised and some of which she had canned. Yet, it was the dozen eggs which provided excitement. Of various sizes and colors, the twelve eggs started conversations among three generations of family members. The white and brown are old hat, but the thirteen year old had never seen, much less did he know of, blue chicken eggs. In addition to blue, there was an egg so pale it appears yellow and one so large it would cause a jumbo egg to have size issues. In all, these dozen eggs at just $3 allowed us to have both nutrition, conversation, and the opportunity to learn more about food. Every dozen should be so arranged.

Large or small, farmer’s markets are not created equal. Some allow for the inclusion of vendors who have not grown or processed what they offer for sale. When I see a vendor at a farm market with clean produce, I wonder if it was purchased from a wholesale operation. It comes down to this: I like dirty produce. Not caked-in-mud dirty, but produce with a bit of dirt makes because I believe I am purchasing from the farmer who grew the produce. I want the farmer to get more than 15 or twenty cents for the work they have done.

Of course, my beliefs just might not be true.