I'm Dating Yall!

Hey everyone, 2 blogs at once.............wow I'm on a roll today. (or trying to avoid the stay at home paperwork I'm supposed to be working on)

How many times have you said...........man I'd eat right if it was just accessible and affordable. I dont' want to eat right if I have to travel far (or in my case rely on a ride out to some remote location to get organic food). I always used to say I wish I could get to some of these places to get some good food. Some food not laden with pestisides, no growing a second head in 10 years for me. The challenge of eating for the seasons is another one that always intrigued me. No much as I love watermelon (that's the American side of me coming out) I don't want to eat it in the dead of winter if it has to be shipped from 1000miles away. I've always wanted to eat what the settlers ate during the different seasons, and see how my body does) Well ladies and gentleman, all our prayers have been answered.

My lastest find has been this year round Farmers Market right off the Dupont Circle Metro. Right off the metro is exactly what I'm saying. Every Sunday rain, blizzard or shine from 10am-1pm, is a plethora of local farmers/vendors selling fruits, veggies, meats, cheese, bread, homeade pasta, james, honey,etc. And its like heaven. It has been so refeshing. As I stated in my Facebook page, its fun being the "hippie", rubbing elbows with local "hippies". For me being the "hippie" in my group of friends, is fun and so worth it. Minus my craving for bananas, for the past few weeks I've been living off of what is available to me locally. Spinach, kale, carrots, eggplant, tomatoes, kohlrabi, apples (oh the glorious apples!) etc. I haven't quite ventured into the cheese/pasta arena yet that's my goal for next weekend. Each weekend I tell myself to try something new. This past weekend I picked up rutabaga, kohlrabi and tatsoi. The week before it was a new kind of squash, turnips.

Fresh herbs (thyme, mint, dill, etc) ginger growing on a stalk, green tomatoes, and every kind of apple known to man. I thought that maybe it would be too restrictive, but so far so good. I still venture to my local organic market (Glut,Trader Joes, Yes!, or Whole Foods) to pick up cottage cheese, tofu, agave, snacks yogurt and bananas, the rest of my stuff comes from the market.
Don't rely on me to tell you how delicious tasting organic foods are. There's something about biting into an apple that hasn't been stored for 2 to 3 months traveling from Ecaudor to get to me that makes me smile. Kids at work who see me devouring apples like its a bag of Funyuns (still miss those) are now intrigued enough to ask for one. Now they come begging for apples, wanting to trade me for the apples they get in their school lunch. Yuck! I love the kids, but shiny apples have never been apealing to me. Maybe that's why folks avoid fruit, if I had to rely on the non organic stuff in the grocery stores that taste like plastic mixed with a faint taste of sweetness that used to be an apple, I wouldn't eat it either. NEWSFLASH!! Fruit is NOT SUPPOSED TO BE SHINY!! Shiny means they've coated it with some sort of toxic, extra appendage producing spray or something. You want your fruits and veggies, dull but full of natural color, with maybe a hole or 2 in it which lets you know that a nice healthy worm attempted to snack on it. Hey, if a worm is willing to eat it, then it must be good!

Locally grown fruits & veggies went straight from the tree or ground, to my plate. Not too many hands touching that. Minimal gas emitted into the air from the farmers who bring it to the market (a little green living for you). It works for me.

Until I get my house (speaking it into existence) with my backyard, or really even fulfulling a major dream, MY FARM.............where I can grown my own foods, I'll have a date every Sunday at 11am. With my local farmer at the Dupont Circle Farmers Market!