The past few weeks have been wonderful at the
farmers’ market. Although I have been finding tasty items all summer, within
just the past couple of weeks the colors really exploded, a feast for the eyes
even before the palate. Plus, I discovered that one of the vendors had
freestone peaches. As opposed to clingstone peaches, I find freestone to be so
much friendlier to eat, and luckily, they tasted amazing too.
Because of how beautiful the bounty has been, you
just had to see it.
Last week, it was: sweet corn, freestone peaches,
green beans, sweet potatoes, leeks, cantaloupe, heirloom and Roma tomatoes, and
these fun little sweet snack peppers that I got because they were to
brilliantly colored and cheery to pass up.
This week, I found: cantaloupe, peaches, butternut
squash, onions, Asian pears, green beans, eggplant, Pattypan squash.
I also noticed once again that another
lovely thing about the farmers’ market is that the walk to and from the market
from our neighborhood on Saturday mornings is quite possibly the friendliest
spot in northern Virginia. Other mornings it may be a commuter’s hurried trek
to the rail station, but on Saturday mornings, people stroll leisurely along
the paths. Just about everyone smiles at one another in passing. They say,
“good morning” or “how are you” as you cross paths. This exchange of greetings
that does not often happen between strangers in this area at other times and
places. It is not lost on me that these encounters happen in the morning
sunlight, under a canopy of trees alive with songbirds and over the prospect of
fresh food.
