We only have one winter market here in our area, and it only meets twice a month. These are the lean months of produce in upstate New York. Our growing season is well over, with ground frozen and snow cover everywhere.
Although the bakers, the honey sellers and the crafts people have lots of wares to offer, the farmers (except for the dairy farmers selling cheese) are running low on supplies.
Did you know that chickens are sensitive to the amount of light they receive, and egg production will go down dramatically if you don't use artificial lights on them in the northern climes during winter? It's true. Most commercial producers use artificially lighting on their chooks. I don't know if this farmstead producer does.
Instead, spouse decided to roast a turkey. When this is the temperature at breakfast time (that's -16C for most of the world, incidentally), hot food roasting slowly and heating the house sounds so good. (Maybe later next week, I'll blog about the roast turkey. If you ask.)
Spouse needed some large onions. We have lots of onions left (we grow fantastic onions at our community garden) but he bought three of these, nestled here side by side with the last of the squash and some storage cabbage one vendor was offering.
Is the growing season over where you live? What was your weather like today?
I so wish that we had indoor farmer's markets here in the Midwest! I really miss farmer's markets in the winter. I love all of your buys! Looks like you will be eating some delicious (and nutritious) meals this week. Did you know that green eggs (from the Araucana chicken) have less cholesterol than other colors? We used to have a gentleman buy only green eggs from us, because he was watching his cholesterol. Who knew? Hope you have a great week! And I love the birds in flight in this theme. So lovely.
ReplyDeleteNo, Bethany, I didn't know about Araucana eggs having less chloresterol, and I do need to watch my cholesterol. In fact, we make enough omelets with just egg whites (and then add cheese, lol). Thank you for your comment on my theme, too.
DeleteLooks like you made some good finds at the farmer's market. How fun!
ReplyDeleteYes, it was fun. We'll see what February brings.
DeleteYour green eggs brought back fond memories. We had Amer-Araucana hens for several years and enjoyed their multi-colored eggs. Ours ranged from pinkish to green to blue. Delicious eggs and fascinating critters. How I miss them!
ReplyDeleteI miss my chickens, too. It's been nearly 30 years since I left the rural life for life in a small city. As far as I know, chickens are not legal where I live, although they are legal in Binghamton, NY, where I work.
DeleteI love Dr Seuss! (Green eggs & Ham)
ReplyDeleteUmm,I had no idea that you could get green eggs....*face palm.*
-You learn something new every day!
The shells are green but the eggs are normal looking. Some call the chickens that lay them "Easter egg chickens". You can't find them commercially, as far as I know, at least where I live. Hurray for farmers' markets.
DeleteThere's nothing like fresh farm produce. Seeing green eggs for the first time. It is the cold season in India too, since it does not snows here, so the winter crop is growing at the moment :)
ReplyDeleteOur ducks used to lay green eggs back in the 70s. I sold all my overproduction of duck, hen & goose eggs through my craft shop. I must admit, they were outdoor birds and they stopped laying in winter. Here in England, we has sunshine as well as snow yesterday. It soon cleared though. Today is cold and crisp.
ReplyDeleteAlana,
ReplyDeleteHow blessed you are to have a winter market! We're a bit behind you in that regard, here in Nebraska. Sadly. I'm shopping at my freezer and pantry, still pulling out bags of frozen corn from the freezer and jars of tomatoes and pickles from the pantry. Stew chickens from the freezer. And green eggs! I was just mentioning to Amalia last night, while scrubbing eggs, that the Araucaunas seem to pick up their production during the cold weather months, in contrast to the other chooks. I love their eggs. I love this post! Farmer's market thoughts are happy thoughts.
Those are some great pictures. Never seen green eggs!
ReplyDeleteYou have a good farmer's market there.
Not a lot of local produce here at the moment...I am trying to at least buy produce from "France," though. But I can't resist tangerines. The lastest I bought were from Portugal and they were excellent.
ReplyDelete