A Year of Gratitude – August 8, 2024

My gratitude came home with me from the farmer’s market today. I left the house with my tote basket and the hope that there would be something delicious to inspire me at one of our local markets.

I didn’t come home empty handed. In fact, my basket was filled to the brim with delicious fresh produce grown by local farmers. I can’t grow everything in our garden. I’m happy to support our farmers and enjoy the amazing produce they bring to the market.

It’s always exciting to go to the market. You can guess what might be there, but you’re never really sure until you stroll among the booths and see what each farm has produced that week. I love looking at all of the different goods and deciding what to purchase and what we’ll be enjoying on our dinner plates in the coming days.

We have plenty of fresh tomatoes and herbs in our garden right now, so there was no need to purchase any of those although there were beautiful tomatoes of every size and color available this week. Instead, I went for items that I didn’t plant this year or that aren’t ready to harvest yet.

I picked up nice red onions and a beautiful bunch of radishes. We enjoyed the last of our spring radishes long ago and our fall radishes aren’t ready to be picked yet. I grabbed a few sweet peppers and eggplant. We have them growing in the garden, but they’ve been slow this year and they won’t be ready to be picked for a few weeks or so.

I also grabbed a few patty pan squash. I love them for a summer treat but didn’t plant them this year. These two sunny squashes were just too lovely for me to pass up. Add in some sweet corn and a nice big head of romaine lettuce and I was a very happy camper leaving the market with my basket full of delicious possibilities.

I was happy to see so many other patrons at the market supporting our local farmers. Everyone can’t grow a garden. Some people don’t have the space. Tending a garden takes a lot of time and some people just don’t have it to give. For others, it’s too physically demanding. I’m so grateful that these markets allow people to enjoy the flavor of homegrown produce without needing to produce it themselves. The fact that they can also support our local farmers is a bonus.

I love going to our local farmer’s markets. I’m trying to make it there more often, to make the time to go and just be in that happy space with farmers sharing their hard grown produce and shoppers eagerly choosing something delicious for their family table. It’s such a happy place to be.

We’re so fortunate to have a robust network of farmer’s markets throughout the year. I hope that you have a farmer’s market to visit in your hometown.

I visited the farmer’s market in Exeter, New Hampshire today. Where is your local farmer’s market?

This post is part of our A Year of Gratitude Series. You can find the introduction, inspiration, and entire year’s gratitude’s posts here.