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A Farmers’ Market on the Road!

We’ve been out and about this past week, visiting family.  This presents some challenges: my parents eat very differently than we do at home.  The single biggest difference is the sheer quantity of meat.  Some weeks ago, my mom commented that they (two people) go through two or three pounds of ground beef a week.  Karen and I had no idea how that was even possible, but we’ve seen it first-hand the past few days: beef shepherd’s pie, meatballs, burgers.  My charming mom asked if we wanted chicken for the grill since we don't eat much meat - to quite a lot of laughter from me and Karen, who don't consider chicken a vegetable.  Luckily no one’s offended at our gentle modifications to amplify the veggies at every opportunity.  (Neither are my folks signing on to eat the delicious hummus, cheese, and veggie sandwiches I made for yesterday’s picnic.  Sigh.)

They are supportive folks, even if they are deeply suspicious of hummus, so today we were off to a nearby farmers’ market in their home state of Utah.  We knew right away that it was a special and unusual place, because we waited in the longest line for coffee that I have ever experienced in the whole state!

The market was massive, occupying most of a major street through the city.  Karen and I wandered happily, cold brew coffee in hand.  But my parents had an agenda: my mom wanted ideas for her canning and preserving, and my dad... my dad had a lot of questions about beets.

You see, my folks have a massive home garden.  A substantial amount of the produce is canned and preserved for sale at their church fair each year (the proceeds of which support a different local charity every year).  Over the past several years, mom's booth of preserves has become famous, and the star of the show is the cinnamon pickled beet.  (She even has a sign which reads "Don't like beets?  You haven't tried these!" and has hand-drawn pictures of beets on it.)

But the beets haven't been growing to my father's satisfaction.  The first planting, he reports, has done nothing, while the second is just now starting to come up.  Normally, some 30-40 jars are already ready.

So we went on a scavenger hunt.  At every booth that had beets, Dad asked the farmers about their beets - how the crop was coming, what they had, if he might possibly buy some in bulk.  But it turns out his problem is region-wide: the growing season is off to a slow start.  One farmer suggested that it's because the soil in the area is low in boron, which beets quite like.  Dad was appeased - the problem wasn't just his garden.  Mom was annoyed because, well, she still has exactly zero jars of pickled beets.  With luck, this will mean a massive yield late in the season - a lot of work, but many jars for happy customers.



But the market trip was a success for me and Karen; we found a lavender farm that produces natural remedies and self-care products, tried some dried tart cherries and some salsa, and bought nifty handmade notebooks that are produced from old, discarded hardcover books.  We're a bit jealous of the size of Mom and Dad's market... but glad to be home to our CSA, vegetarian food, and ridiculous cats.
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