Two Years Late-But I Made It!

I've been wanting to go to the Countryside Conservancy's farmer's market for probably two years.  I blogged about them awhile (a LONG while) back, but never actually made the drive up.  Since this year is my year of following through, I made the decision at midnight to set my alarm and get up early on a Saturday to be in Peninsula by 9AtM. Olivia went with me (I tried to talk some of the other kids into going, but she was the only taker--also the only one awake) and we made the drive up to Old Trail School and visited Countryside Conservancy's last winter farmer's market.  I wasn't sure what to expect.  I've been to the Haymaker Farmer's market (in the winter) and was a little disappointed.  I read all these books and they're all talking about all the great stuff you can get at a farmers market.  Most of them are also written by Californians, who's growing season is drastically different than ours in Northeast Ohio.  Haymaker was good, don't get me wrong, they had local meats, honey, breads, produce and, of course, all the odds and ends that make them fun-like the natural cotton candy Vincey picked.
WOW, was I amazed when I walked into that school!  For a winter market in Ohio this was AMAZING!
It was so much bigger than any farmers market  I had ever been to and therefore had so much more to offer.  I had just grocery shopped the day before so I didn't NEED a ton of stuff, but I bought some kale from Breezy Hill, some creamy lavender infused honey (JUST ate some of it on my freshly made whole wheat bread!) purple potatoes, apples, black beans, a baguette (which lasted all of 10 minutes when I got it home) and a really cute crocheted headband for Olivia--a necessity for sure.

Our Loot from the Farmer's Market--minus the dog treats

I took a picture of Olivia at the market because I thought it would look less creepy than some weird lady taking pictures of the vendors, but she wouldn't let me put her down-surprise there- so it's kind of hard to see all the background, but you can get the idea.  We missed a lot of booths because we just shopped until we ran out of money. (Oh I forgot we got two dog treats too).

This part of the market was in the gym of the school, 

Spending money was easy to do, but I really feel like everything I bought was worth the money.  I was mad at myself for spending $6 on the beans, until I cooked them and was THRILLED with how much better than are than what I get at the store- canned or dried.  When I go back to the market next week (It's done at the school but will be in downtown Akron) I'm going to get some local meats.  I've been reading a book about real food (more on this in a later blog post) and I want to try to eat locally more than I do now (which is pretty much not at all).  I got great stuff, felt good about eating well and supporting local growers and producers and HAD FUN!  Olivia and I really did have a good time, just as Vince and I did last year (or was that two years ago?!) when we went to the Winter Haymaker's Market.  They're just fun! I'm really excited to do the Spring Fling market Saturday because it's so much closer!  I hope all the same vendors will be there, but if not, it'll still be a good time.