Our first trip to the Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market was a huge success. In fact it made my day!
Saturdays mean a trip to Santa Barbara for fresh fruits and veggies. Thursday evenings we head to Carpinteria to visit many of the same vendors. What an abundance to have farm fresh produce twice a week! I can stock up and never run out.
I wrote about Santa Barbara’s Farmer’s Market two years ago HERE. I think the photos are better in the previous post, so you may want to take a look. I was too burdened down with produce to take great photos Saturday.
Photos from the market:
Our favorite vendor we call Farmer Fred. He’s friends with two couples we know in Santa Barbara. We went to a BBQ with him and his family last summer. He’s got a personality that doesn’t stop. He loves bantering and joking with his customers. As the close of the market approaches, he gives away produce. Two older Latino women came and he gave them two boxes of peppers. We asked what they were doing with them.
“They’re making tamales,” was all Farmer Fred told us.
They may be tamale vendors or making them for church. In any case, Fred helps them out.
While I shopped around the market, my husband hung out with Farmer Fred.
A woman was helping Fred that we’ve met in years’ past. She weighed produce for a customer and handed them their bag of tomatoes. She asked, “How much do we owe you?” We all laughed because at that point Fred was giving away produce.
We’re also on a first-name basis with our favorite stone-fruit farmer, Todd. He has 10 acres in Arizona he wants to sell us.
I bought the white peach, Flavor King and Dapple Dandy (tastes like candy) pluots from Todd. What a treat!
What I made for dinner:
Roasted round zucchini that I sliced and tossed in olive oil. After roasting, I sprinkled it with a Mexican chile seasoning.
I bought bone marrow from a vendor at the Farmer’s Market who was selling beef and pork. Bone marrow was listed under OFFAL. I roasted it in the oven at 425 degrees for 20 minutes, along with the zucchini. Unfortunately, the top bone lost most of it’s marrow while cooking. But what was left was delicious! I served the veggies and bone marrow with chips, salsa and guacamole made from avocados a friend gave us. Yum!
Do you have a farmer’s market near you? What are your favorite things to buy?
