Fruitful Morning.
It's a beautiful day in the River Market neighborhood, where the 35th Annual Little Rock Farmers Market is now underway. Early morning light saw about a dozen well-supplied vendors with loads of fresh fruits and veggies quietly offering their goods to passers by. A little spit of rain didn't really seem to bother anyone out for the pick of the crop this morning. It's still early for most of Arkansas' crops, but there were Cabot strawberries and greenhouse tomatoes and all sorts of onions and leeks and greens. Here too is a good place to pick up three to six inch starter plants for the garden, beautiful hanging baskets for Mother's Day, and cypress wood products. The early morning crowd was rather pleasant, and a scone from Old Mill Bakery and a cuppa from Coast Cafe just topped everything off nicely. Not only was I able to cinch some beautiful produce pics, but I came home with some of the bounty -- green tomatoes, sweet potatoes, glossy cucumbers and roly poly wax potatoes. More produce porn on the jump.
ANOTHER NOTE: Tim Jones passes this snippet along, certainly worth mentioning.
"Pulaski Tech plug: the Top Chefs will be assisted by two sous chefs, Kelley Neasley and Terri Johnson, both of whom are advanced students at the PTC Arkansas Culinary School. Thanks to Bravo/Comcast for inviting the students to participate in a really great opportunity and -especially- kudos to the locals!"
I like the way many of the farmers display their goods... like the way this vendor cut back a section of an ear of corn for good kernel inspection.
Do I hear Booker T and the MGs? Here's your green onions, prettier than a kitchen painting.
I wonder where Dale Chihuly gets his ideas... maybe from displays of parsnips, carrots, and radishes like this.
The Little Rock Farmers Market continues every Tuesday and Saturday through summer at the River Market Pavilion. Check out even more of what I saw at Tie Dye Travels.
Comments
Irony Watch: we get food porn, most of which is grown elsewhere on the same week when the AT features food grown locally and those who make an effort to eat locally.
There's one peddler at the Rivermarket that I will never shop with again. A few years ago, they had those basketball tomatoes for sale, and I asked the person if they were any good. "Oh yes! Very good tomatoes". Well, you know the drill, they were dry, mealy, hard things not fit for much of anything. They don't go bad because they never were any good to begin with. So, let the newbies and tourists buy up the shipper tomatoes, I'll wait for the good ones to come along later.
My favorite seller there told me once "buy the ugly tomatoes, they are the best". She was so very right. So, whenever they have tomatoes along with their mint, basil, baby bok choi, I snatch them up.
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April 26, 2009 06:34 PM