So, I recently discovered the wonder that is a farmers market. My town has a really big one (think 100+ booths), so that the prices aren't very high because of the competition and so the prices are generally are cheaper then my local grocery store. Not to mention the TASTE! Before I hated Oranges - the ones you buy from the store are disgusting. But the oranges at farmers markets (Valencia ones, anyway) are sweet and tangy and delicious. I discovered that a lot of foods I hate (peaches, nectarines, carrots, etc. ) I now like if I buy them from the farmers market. The Farmers market ones just taste so much more delicious, not to mention a lot stronger.

My farmers market also has local bread, honey, eggs, and goats milk/cheeses, home-made clothes (there is this one stand that makes these beautiful dresses in modern styles but with Sari styled cloth so they're bright with interesting patterns and are BEAUTIFUL. ), hand-woven baskets, local mushrooms, and everything else you can think of! These are more expensive then the fruits/vegetables though because there is generally only 1-3 stands of each, so less competition. The honey is the only thing that's priced cheaper then the grocery store.

I do the shopping in my family, so now I go to the store twice a week - once to the actual store for everything but fruits, vegetables, and honey, and then to the local farmers market on Saturday for those things. Its amazing how much $20 will buy you at the farmers market! The only exception is of course apples, which I buy at the store when they're out of season so my family doesn't kill me.

So, does anyone else go to the farmers market at their town? Is it big? What does it have? Is the stuff delicious? Do you not like it? Do you pay for things that are a bit more then your grocery store, or are you cheap like me? I'm interested!

Does the walker choose the path, or the path the walker?

Funny - I'm seeing this post ~15 minutes after getting back from our Farmers Market. 😀

I agree that everything tastes better from the F.M., one reason being that it's so much fresher. Most produce in the grocery stores has to be picked green so it can be packed, shipped, stored, unpacked, etc. before it gets overripe & goes bad. Most of the produce at our F.M. comes from no more than ~100 miles away and it's all produced by the people who sell it (no middleman).

The prices at the F.M. are usually a bit higher than supermarket prices, but the flavor is so much better that it's worth it - plus it's nice to support the local farmers etc. rather than some mega-farm hundreds of miles away. Ours runs from the beginning of May through the end of October & the rest of the year we have the regular grocery stores or the CoOp (which is usually significantly more expensive).

Today I got honey (which was actually quite a bit cheaper than the grocery store), two kinds of apples, bartlett pears, nectarines, peaches, two kinds of cantaloupe-ish melons, and sweet corn. (If you're wondering about the lack of veggies - my mom & I both have gardens so I don't need to buy green beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, or zucchini right now.)

It's fun not only because of the great food, but because EVERYONE goes and it's a small town so you always end up running into people you know. 😃

"[English] not only borrows words from other languages; it has on occasion chased other languages down dark alley-ways, clubbed them unconscious and rifled their pockets for new vocabulary."
-James Nicoll, can.general, March 21, 1992

You know, there is a farmers market in my town but I've never been there so I don't know if it's big or not. It's only a 3 minute drive away from my house...I should consider going there. Even though, I'm really lazy as hell and I live right next door to a grocery store. lol

♪MONSTARR~ will eat all your cookies and steal your bishies~♪ Φ_Φ

I ♥ Farmers Markets. I used to go to one when I was an undergrad. It was a small one... I loved the fruit because there are so many orange hybrids (I'm a citrus fanatic). And the samples... The vendors are so nice. Oh, and now I'm thinking about fresh apple juice... I don't like apple juice at all... but this one vendor sold the freshest juice ever... these were like... squeezed from a juicer, so you had pulp! And no added sugar!

There were some boys in the dorm who went out and bought boxes of apples (since they bought a juicer), and made communal juice for the entire dorm. Oh man... it was great.

I think it's a great experience in general to go to any Farmers Markets. Sometimes prices may be a little high (because these are actual farmers... they're not industrialized), and sometimes prices are cheaper than a grocer. What's nice is the experience... For me, I love to be amongst people... I especially like seeing families with small children in strollers, eating all of these healthy foods. It's just a nice outing, especially on a Saturday morning. 😀

Haven't been to one in a while, but I recall mass quantities of peppers, delicious sheperd's pie, and rabbits.

I'm at one every week or two during growing season, local produce is a great thing. Not to mention the bakers and butchers that go as well <3 As far as price goes, the ones around here are usually about even with the supermarket (loads of competition), the quality of the goods just happens to be much higher.

plus, who doesn't love free samples? 🤣

They are extremely common in Brazil.
The fruits taste is basically the same, but I like them for the different environment, you can talk to the seller and the people around about football and whatever, you can ask the seller to help you picking the best fruits and you can taste the fruits before buying. So much more enjoyable than going Wallmart.

i do so wanna go but we dont have one here in the city.. but there are lots outside the city but its really far 😢 but i go when im out of town i will never pass on such a lovely opportunity to bargain.. 🤣

oh please do click this!
The sweeter the apple, the higher the branch. The quieter the fart, the nastier the smell.
GUESS WHO??

I always enjoy the LA Farmer's Market when I go out to California. The fruit is nothing like you get in stores. It may be a bit more expensive but so worth it. Plus, they always give out free samples and the people are so kind and helpful.

The one in my town is every Saturday morning and quite small. I've only gone there once to get yellow tomatoes for my Mother, actually. They don't have any fruit selection because of the climate and environment here and all, so it's mostly vegetables. I already get most of the veggies from my Aunt's farm so I really have no need to go there.

*Beavis: "Wait, what's pornography?"
Butt-head: "Uhh.. I think that's like, the study of porn." *

I LOVE THE FARMER'S MARKET! The one nearby to where I live is on every Saturday as well, I'm not sure when it'll stop seeing as the weather here is very unpredictable. But as I said in a conversation with another MU member Farmer's Markets are very refreshing, I used to hate tomatoes but the tomatoes they have are juicy, delicious and warmed by the sun after being picked just recently. It's hard for me to enjoy fruits and veggies from the grocery store too, but at a place like that they taste better than any five star restaurant.
It really makes you understand these kinds of odes 🤣
Ode to Tomatoes
Ode to the Artichoke
Ode to the Onion
Farmer's markets make me feel like that ^ 🙂