Farmers' Markets

On Saturday morning I went to the Falls Church Farmers Market in Northern Virginia. It was my first time there – I've visited another nearby market, the Arlington Farmers Market (in Courthouse) on a few occasions. It seemed to me that the Falls Church market has more vendors and a greater variety and quantity of produce. Look how many different types of radishes are on display in the top photo and how many types of leafy greens in the other!

At farmers' markets I become aware of the seasonality of the food I eat because the fruits and vegetables are locally grown. You won't see peaches in November, but you will see a lot of root vegetables. Here's what I brought home from a trip to the farmer's market in August:

and this is what I brought home from this Saturday's trip, a GIANT Kohlrabi (next to an apple for size comparison) :

I also purchased some homemade dog cookies from Chase Your Tail Bakery, which I will discuss in another post. You may be wondering what I'm going to use this ginormous root vegetable for. I'm going to make Kohlrabi soup (my grandmother's recipe). It's on the menu for tonight's dinner and the recipe and a post about it are on the way...