Saturday market

Another Saturday, another market. Josh is fighting off some kind of flu-ish bug, so he stayed and slept in, no doubt in part because of the nyquil he took last night. After yesterday's rain, it was a little cooler out and overcast, so it seemed like it would not be a hot, humid market.

We spent fewer days eating from the market than usual last week since Josh had a sudden work event and one night, we ate pasta. So I knew that we had a lot of veg -- too much -- still in the fridge. Nothing worse than wasting market veg. So with that in mind, and armed with just one bag to keep me from buying too much -- my favorite canvas bag from the Berkeley market -- I headed out alone.

I really still bought everything I would have bought, but I bought less. From Green Ola, I picked up some red leaf lettuce. The season for lettuce is almost over because of the heat. Perhaps one more week, she said. Josh is a huge salad fan. I have been wanting arugula less, perhaps because we overdid it last year, perhaps because this season, the arugula has been too peppery for me to enjoy.

From Hennessey, I got some beautiful zucchini which I really didn't need, but I wanted to buy something from William. From McMullan, I bought more rosegold potatoes, two ears of corn, and six small plums, which Josh will use in cocktails.

Burge was my first stop. I picked up some beautiful tomatoes, two Chinese eggplants, some pepito peppers, a cucumber for Josh, and some small red onions that I'll grill on the Egg. The pepitos can be quickly sauteed and tossed with sea salt like padrons. Josh loved those last year.

It's fun to go to the farmers market and really plan out how you will cook things as you choose what to buy. It's not the same going to the grocery store, where we decide the menu first and then go shopping.

The outdoor garden is doing pretty well, though the herbs are doing the least spectacularly. Growing from seed is not the thing for me. Next year, it's all plants for me. Clearly, the best things growing are the mint and rosemary, though the growth has really slowed since we aren't using it. The sad empty pot was cilantro which got beaten down in a big thunderstorm and then never picked up again. Some have said that cilantro can't handle the heat but that can't be right... Anyway, the basil looks finally recognizable even if it's not harvestable and the parsley looks... well, at least it might be growing. I have two basil plants growing elsewhere (slowly) along with some oregano, thyme, and sage.

My three kinds of tomatoes are doing pretty well, though they are a little more leggy than I would like. I don't see any flowers yet, which I'm not sure is a good thing or not. I'm guessing not. When I staked all the tomatoes, I totally broke out but I did learn that I'm allergic to them for sure. For the zucchini, it's doing pretty well. We had a flower bust out a few months ago, but it never came to anything and then I was sad that I didn't eat it as a flower instead.

Here you can see how well the zucchini is growing its flowers. Hopefully, they will turn into lovely little squashes.

Here we have three types of peppers, a basil plant, an eggplant plant, and a very viney cucumber plant. The cucumber is clearly out of control but it has lots of flowers all over the place. Josh had to move it from vining up the Egg. The peppers seem to be doing pretty well and have some buds. Best of all is the eggplant, which doesn't have a lot of flower but...

Well, it has this eggplant. It's roughly six inches long, and I think it's about time to harvest. It's been growing for about a month now since I first saw the little eggplant sprout. It's really a cute little thing. I will probably harvest it this week but only right before we plan to eat it.

Hooray!