On Saturday morning, the Boy and I headed out to the Falls Church Farmers Market to pick up provisions for the week. Hitting up one of the many DC area farmers markets has become a weekend ritual for us. But our trip Saturday took on special purpose because of my participation in Market Week. I almost always bring along my camera to take pictures at the farmers market (so much so I’ve become known as “the camera girl” at Panorama Bread at the 14th & U farmers market). So it was second nature to bring it along this time. Considering how often I have taken pictures at markets, you’d think this would have been a breeze, right? Uhmmmm, no. In typical Shaw Girl “let me find a way to screw this up” fashion, I took all of my pictures in the manual mode. Ughhhh. That lovely picture of blueberries perfectly bathed in the Saturday sun? A blur of blue and light…overexposed to a fault. The pictures of the treats on display by the new dog treat baker? I can’t even identify what shape the biscuits are in, let alone the name of the vendor (so sorry). And I didn’t realize this mistake while I was at the market…oh no! I didn’t notice this until I was going through my pictures at home. I was crushed, especially since Market Week has its own Flickr group. But I managed to salvage a few of the pictures (thank you iPhoto), showing off just a hint of the goodness evident at the market.
Saturday in DC was gorgeous…a sunny day with low humidity. And considering DC is on a swamp, low humidity days in July are few and far between. When we arrived at the market, there were already people sitting on blankets in the grass, eating some of their purchases. I hadn’t been to the Falls Church farmers market since late Winter, so I was surprised at how much it had grown. Not only was there a local wine vendor, there was also a new artisanal ice cream and gelato vendor as well! You really could do all of your grocery shopping at this one market: milk and cream from J. Wen Farmers & Dairy; meats from Cibola or Smith Meadows Farms; endless amounts of fruits and vegetables; breads and baked goods from Atwater’s, Bonaparte or the Bread House; snacks of salsas, dips and hummus from Wisteria Gardens; the aforementioned frozen treats of Dolzecca Gelato and Sinplicity Ice Cream (a new addition to the market); pastas from Cavanna Pasta and Smith Meadows Farms…the list goes on and on! I was actually a bit dazed at all of the options and didn’t want to leave. I could have stopped at every booth, I was so entranced (okay maybe I did).
Although I was ecstatic to see all the new vendors, I was even happier to see that the market hadn’t lost its friendliness. The vendors love to talk with the customers, offering samples and giving cooking suggestions. They freely answer all of your questions about their farm and their farming methods. And trust me, this is information you won’t find at Safeway (if you can even find an employee willing to answer a question). This is the connection of people with their food at its purest sense. There isn’t a middle man between you and the farmer who is growing or raising your food. Every week, I have a conversation with the people responsible for what I eat and to me that is priceless.
Even though there were a lot of new vendors I was dying to try, I did show a measure of restraint in my purchases. I stuck (more or less) to the list of things I knew I wanted to pick up: eggplant, Summer squash, onions and cheese for a veggie quesadilla; tomatillos and jalapeños for salsa verde; tomatoes, basil and mozzarella for a pizza; blueberries for pie, muffins and various other products to fuel my blueberry addiction; Blue Ridge Dairy’s vanilla ricotta for a homemade ricotta ice cream and peaches for snacking. There were a few other things I picked up that weren’t really on the list, including an aged Gouda from Fields of Grace farm and a bunch of pastas from Cavanna (one of my favorite local sources of pasta). All and all, it was a fantastic haul, which tested my arm strength.
Falls Church Farmers Market is open every Saturday from 8 am to 12 noon during the Summer market (May 2nd to December 26th) and from 9 am to 12 noon during the Winter market (January 3rd to April 25th). The market is located at 300 Park Avenue in Falls Church, Virginia and is somewhat accessible from the East Falls Church Farmers market (it’s a slight walk but not too bad).
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