In case you're wondering (mom), no, I haven't already starved to death.
My food challenge got pushed up a little bit due to the two weeks in a row that our farmer's market got rained out. Though I was disappointed that I wouldn't get to start right away, I was very glad that Georgia was catching up on some much-needed rain during this terrible drought. If I want to support local farms, I can't complain about the rain, right? I even sloshed my way down to one of the rain-or-shine markets one day to get some swiss chard and salad greens from one of the three folks who braved the weather.
This past Saturday it was sunny when I woke up, so I headed down to the market... only to get rained on as soon as I parked the car! The intermittent showers turned out to be a great opportunity to chat with some of the growers and fellow market shoppers because we would all have to crowd under one tent at a time and wait out the downpour, then scuttle over to the next tent and wait again.
This week's haul was wonderful: I was able to pick up some salad greens, leeks, carrots, potatoes, pork sausage, beef, and strawberries. Oh, the strawberries.
Usually strawberries come out pretty early here, but with the drought and the crazy temperature shifts I kept hearing from our growers that they were "Waiting for the strawberries." Well, they are finally here!
The folks from Riverview Farms had two big tables full of berries, and another grower from Athens, GA had their own display. These aren't the mammoth heart-shaped fruits you'll see at the grocery store, nor are they as perfect-looking, but they are real. These strawberries vary in size and shape, have notches and funny clusters of seeds instead of the neat rows of a conventional berry.
The biggest difference from a conventional berry? These taste like something. Something wonderful.
After eating an entire basket's worth by myself in one sitting and feeling positively drunk with Spring happiness, I can safely say that I will never buy another grocery store strawberry as long as I can help it.
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