Guest guest Posted July 1, 2009 Report Share Posted July 1, 2009 Hi, New Vegetarian! Yes, I have encountered this also. We live in a fairly small, mid-western town but have a very nice summer farmers' market going for about 5 months. Last fall, I saw so many unusual winter squashes and pumpkins and wanted to try some of them. I asked questions of several of the vendors and didn't learn much about the interesting looking squashes. Most of these farmer-vendors come back year after year to the Market and this year I noticed one of the stands had these BEAUTIFUL cauliflowers last weekend. These cauliflower heads have bright, and I mean " paint-box-bright " PURPLE colored " curds " . I asked one of the men at this stand if the purple cauliflower tasted the same as the regular " white " cauliflower did. He didn't know. I asked him if it lost the color during cooking: He didn't know that, either--he admitted that he'd never eaten them (and prob- ably had never eaten the regular kind of cauliflower, either!) So much for my asking about what the " new " vegetables tasted like! Sometimes, if talking with " strangers " doesn't bother (you), you can occasionally ask another farmers' market customer if he/she/they have tried whatever it is you are interested in. I've done that a few times. (I figure it can't hurt to ask someone--if they don't know or don't want to tell me anything, I'm no worse off. I have also been the one asked by another customer about a particular vegetable, fruit or baked good--I gave someone " rave reviews " last fall for a " kaboka " winter squash that I'd tried for the first time. (The vendor-farmers, by the way, were glad to let me do this; they were the ones who hadn't known " what it tastes like " when *I* bought the squash for the first time.) It seems really odd that vegetable farmers would grow food crops that they know very little or nothing about. Trying the food and THEN offering it at the Market makes so much sense--you can recommend it on your own EXPERIENCE. On the other hand, at our " Market " , there is a multi-generation farming family that shows up sometimes with the great-grandmother, her son and his grandson, all at the same stand. The young boy (early teens) knows a great deal about the vegetables his family offers at the market and I love to watch (and maybe even eavesdrop!) as he " chats up " the other customers. He has answered MY questions several times and (I'm sure) he also EATS most or all of the vegetables his family brings to Market. He is one super-duper Farmers' Market sales-person, even at such a young age! This young man has come with his family to Market for about 3 years now. He doesn't know me by name, but he recognized me last week when I showed up to shop. He said, " Oh, I remember YOU! You're the 'collard green lady'! " --LOL! He's right! I bought LOTS of great fresh collards last year and the year before that at his family's stand. They're the only vendors who had them at the time, so I always stop by this family's stand to see when their greens are ready for market! I'm glad you are able to get to a farmers' market--you'll find a treasure-trove of good vegetarian foods there! Good wishes and peace to you! --Laura B., from Illinois (LOVE that Farmers' Market! Don't know what I'd do without it!) farmers market Posted by: " novemeberbabyboy1 " novemeberbabyboy1 novemeberbabyboy1 Wed Jul 1, 2009 6:50 am ((PDT)) I am fairly new vegetarian, just a litle over a year. When I get a chance I like to go the my local farmers market to try different things. I continually encounter individuals who dont what type of fruit or veggie they are selling, or just dont want to answer questions about it such as taste etc. Has anyone else encountered this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted July 2, 2009 Report Share Posted July 2, 2009 I find most of the farmer's very knowledgable about their produce. It's relatively easy to pick out those who stop at the Ontario Food Terminal (a distribution centre) to get their produce and sell it at the Farmer's Market. Sometimes though, a farmer has been growing something for so long that they have lost the name of the particular item. In my CSA box I received these wonderful white beans but the farmer couldn't remember what they were as they had been growing them for generations (Mennonite farm. I love the Farmer's Market! Paula Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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