Lord I hate the alarm going off at 8:00 am. On a Saturday, especially. It’s almost sacrilegious. But I’ll do it, albeit grudgingly, and once my eyes fully open, I’ll be grateful I woke up. My mood will lighten with the wrapping of my raggedy old scarf and the donning of my coat just like so many other It’s dedication like this that brings people to the Davis Farmer’s Market every single Saturday. With winter starting to show it’s nippy self, and the possibility of drenching rains, it’s surprising how many bundled up people you see out browsing and bartering amongst the various booths piled high with produce. Everyone is willing to brave the cold for that perfect organic bunch of kale, the golden butternut squash, that tart and slightly pernicious bite of a dried apricot.
Though, I suppose it’s not simply dedication, but a sense of joy and community that comes with it. People congregate to socialize, catch up, see local performers, and support local growers. Your ear catches small parts of conversations; “Are these green beans organic?” “My child’s whole class seems to have caught the flu.” “I haven’t seen you in forever!” “You have to taste this, it’s simply divine.”
A close community, you can’t but help run into co-workers and friends. I ran into a few people I hadn’t seen in lord knows how long, so it was nice to spend a moment to catch up. Chance encounters like this are a priceless part of the experience.
My friend Sarah was kind enough to accompany me this chilly morning and peruse the stalls with me as we both had shopping to do. Our first stop was the Village Bakery booth, a local artisan bakery in Davis on 814 2nd Street near the train station. It’s a great place for fresh artisan breads and pizza, and luckily they always have a well stocked booth at the market. Otherwise where would I go for my carb-a-licious supply of garlic parmesan bread? Nowhere, that’s where, and me breadless just isn’t a pleasant experience for anyone.
We then stopped over at Everything Under the Sun’s booth, a spot Sarah has total devotion to as do many other patrons. Their business is family run and 100% organic, supplying some of the best radishes and beets around. While Sarah made her purchase, I talked radish and got some wonderful suggestions for pickling and winter salads.
To read the rest of this article make sure you pick up your copy of Edible Sacramento! Find it at your favorite food vendor for free! It's the first issue I've contributed to, so check it out!
Garret -
ReplyDeleteI have a shibby scarf knitted for someone like you.
Send an email to where I can ship to you. No need for you to stroll the markets in a raggedy old scarf. When my sister lived in town, we used to go to the Davis Farmer's Market, picnic on the near-by grounds and then walk about Downtown to peruse the lovely shops.
Tootles,
Anni :-)
Stumbled across your inviting blog today. Not sure if stumbling is the right verb in a virtual setting. I love your cupcake menu. I am keeping a blog with my seven year old son to chart our attempts to eat our way through the a to z of vegetables. He was a complete veg phobic but a combination of exciting recipes from across the world and the idea of fellow blog-readers reading and enjoying our efforts things. We will be trying out some of your vegetable based cupcakes which sound delicious.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.greatbigvegchallenge.blogspot.com
Great blog - from your latest fan in London.
Hmm... I will have to get in touch with my grandparents (who live in Roseville) to see if they can't track down a copy of this. I need to see how it ends!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the writing gig.
Hi Garrett, I used to live in the bay area and greatly miss all of the wonderful farmer's markets. I love the radish photo, it is a neglected veggie and you do it great justice.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading about your market morning :) This is something I love doing...exploring markets. And yes, I know the feeling of waking up much earlier than usual, but being awfully glad you did afterwards :)
ReplyDeleteI am the same way.. when the alarm goes off that early on market saturdays, I get more than a bit annoyed.. until I'm up - then I get a lil excited because markets are such great places for good deals and people watching. hehee
ReplyDeleteAlso congrats on the article! :D
I saw your link off of the Cupcake Blog, and immediately I became excited. I will be attending UCD for graduate school in the fall! In the mean time I am going to fantasize about the Davis farmer's market.
ReplyDeleteGarrett,
ReplyDeleteCongrats on being published! I whole- heartedly agree with you the feeling of community one feels when at the market. We must be on the same brain wave because I wrote something very similar, but not nearly as beautifully, about visiting the market when I was in NYC. Hope your foot is behaving and not giving you too much grief.
I love going to food markets, it's one of the things I miss most about Israel. Never in my life have I smelled such gorgeously fresh loaves of bread or sampled such lush produce. I'm so glad to be home, but I wish I could have brought the food with me!
ReplyDeleteAri (Baking and Books)
You described the experience so perfectly. It's not just about being among all that fresh goodness, but also the little moments you share with fellow market lovers. It's such a great feeling and it's all worth the groaning and moaning in the morning as you physically throw yourself off the bed. :)
ReplyDelete