Straight From The Farm

At the beginning of the month I visited a new farmer's market. Today I went to yet another market on its initial day of business.

The Ellisville Farmer's Market is somewhere between a 10 to 20 minute drive from my house, depending on the time of day. It's tucked in the corner of a Straub's grocery store parking lot at the intersection of Clarkson and Clayton, and is open on Thursdays from 4:00-7:00. I arrived a little after 4:00, cloth bag in hand.

The market isn't large, but it looked like everything was represented: produce, meats, eggs, cheese, and plants. All of the vendors came from Missouri or Illinois, and most of the fruits and vegetables were advertised as organic. I saw some sellers that I've seen at other markets, but also some that I wasn't familiar with. There were a couple of booths sampling locally-produced salsa and olive oil, and one artist.

Although I was tempted by a lot of different things, I only ended up with one item in my bag--a head of heirloom lettuce called Grandpa Admire's. It looked like a huge butterhead with red-tipped leaf edges. I've heard about heirloom tomatoes, but never stopped to think that there may be other vintage types of vegetables. (The lettuce ended up being part of tonight's dinner, and it was wonderful; even the ribs were tender and edible.)

A local radio station was broadcasting there today. According to the market Website, they plan on having special events, but none has been posted yet. The also had an interesting looking children's section, which was practically empty when I was there. However, since some of the schools are still in session they probably anticipated that. I'm sure the area will grow in popularity as the summer wears on.

I know there's a lot of farmer's markets around the area now. I wonder how long it would take to visit them all..