Beaverton Farmer's Market

I have been waiting months now for the farmer's market to come back in Beaverton. Last year was the first year my wife and I went to the farmer's market on a weekly basis. In the past we visited the Beaverton farmer's market once or twice, but never really bought much of anything. A few years earlier we went to the Tigard farmer's market (over in the Garden Home neighborhood), but it was smaller and we didn't get to many items there.

Last year due to health issues and a more concerted effort to eat locally, we decided to start going to the farmer's market on a weekly basis sometime in the early summer. At first we got a few items, some tomatoes, berries and maybe a sweet onion or two. After a few weeks we expanded to more fruits and vegetables. We would experiment, look on line or go to my cooking bible, Fanny Farmer, to find out how to cook what we got. By the end of the market we were getting dozens of items, bringing our own bags and going to our favorite boots for specific items.

The first day today was a good one. The market was packed and about three fourths of the spaces were filled. Since it is early in the season there weren't many fruit or vegetable options, but a lot of plants and seedlings. There was a lot of asparagus, rutabaga, leeks, leafy greens and even a stand selling tomatoes. There were some booths selling wine, cakes and breads. What I was amazed to see were how many booths were selling seafood and pork. In the past I would see one or two booths, but today I saw at least five. Although I need to eat less meat, I might start eating more local meat which looks to be of better quality than what I usually find in the supermarket.

So we got some asparagus, use half tomorrow night as a side with dinner and the rest in a stir fry later in the week. Four beefsteak tomatoes to use for a sauce with pasta. My wife got a bunch of rutabaga to make me a pie and has promised to not feed me the leaves ;-). A leek to most likely use with the chicken I will be making for dinner tomorrow. And for dinner tonight, a fresh bunch of kale and Yukon gold potatoes to use in a soup with linguca sausage and white beans, served with a sourdough rye bread that we bought on the way out of the market.

I look forward to the upcoming weeks where more fruits and vegetables will start showing up. This will give me an opportunity to make some old favorites and to try anything that I somehow missed last year. Thanks to the Beaverton farmer's market for allowing me to become more of a locavore.