Tom and I walked at Wood Lake Nature Center on Sunday. This was our second time there, the first over Memorial Day in May 2011. There were no turtles in sight yesterday (they are in brumation this time of year, so I learned), but we did find an array of winter textures and a few chickadees.

We’re not accustomed to visiting the May farmers market the morning after some (very slight) snowfall, but the morning’s bright blue skies  were enough to encourage us to hop on our bikes and head down to the Midtown Farmers Market. Though old man winter has stretched out one shivering, icy finger in a desperate attempt to hold on to the upper midwest, the smiling faces and ever-increasing produce of the market stand up in defiance, telling old man winter to get lost. Admittedly we were a little chilly from the ride in, but it was nothing hot coffee and even hotter tamales couldn’t set right.

The early spring market is an exercise in patience. The feeling of new vegetables right around the corner is palpable, yet week after week they only seem to trickle in: ramps the first week, lettuce this; can asparagus be that far off? In spite of the occasional disappointment when a sought after vegetable has not yet returned, there is a real excitement for each new arrival at the market. Like old friends returning after a long absence, each new vegetable is greeted with an enthusiastic embrace. By August, when we have ears of corn coming out our ears and enough tomatoes to fill every canning pot in the house, the abundance can be overwhelming. But for the moment, the slow appearance of one crop after the other allows for each vegetable to be given its due appreciation. And besides, after waiting all winter for the market to return, what’s a few more weeks waiting on asparagus and peas?

New this week was lettuce, from Gardens of Eagan. We also picked up a pint of their strawberries, which make a great garnish for oatmeal. And because I can’t resist, especially as we wait for a greener market stalls, I picked up a pound of ground mutton.

The hauls from these early markets are humble to be sure, but this shouldn’t be discouraging. It doubles our resolve to be at the market next weekend: after all, with new arrivals of our old friends each week, how could we even miss one of them?

The season at the Midtown Farmers Market officially ended in October, though some obsessive hoarding and a special winter market before Thanksgiving kept us supplied with fresh local produce into the beginnings of winter. Eventually though, we ate our way through our fresh supplies, leaving only a few cans of pickles and tomato sauce as well as some increasingly questionable ‘storage’ shallots. For some reason — and that reason might very well have been a severe case of squash fatigue — there was one fresh vegetable that just wouldn’t go away: a Delicata squash that spent month after month untouched in our fruit bowl. That squash served as a reminder of the warmer, sunnier days of fall as we fought our daily battle of survival in the harsh Minnesota winter.

Eventually, though, the squash was due to meet its end, and there seemed no more appropriate time than our feast in celebration of Martha’s birthday. Cutting into our friend the squash — easily four months after it had been picked in mid-October — I was surprised at how well it had weathered the winter. It was certainly a bit dried out compared to what it would have been in the fall — especially the delicate threads on the inside — but the flesh was still firm and moist. I cut the squash cross-wise into rings, tossed them with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted them for twenty minutes. The flavor was as good as ever: sweet and tasting of pumpkins. Providing delicious local flavors in the dead of February, it’s enough to make one not revile the very thought of squash.

But, sadly, that is it for our fresh vegetables from Midtown; we’ll have to wait until the market starts to hit its stride again in late May before we can enjoy such treats  again.

Click the image to see this photo set on Flickr.

Thanks to the Monday holiday, Tom and I have today, tomorrow, and Monday off. This time last year we were headed to Red Wing, MN; this year we’ll be exploring the Twin Cities. With a couple of pairs of rented skis, the plan to stay in town is shaping up pretty well. We’ve light-breakfasted (on granola), skied, and brunched already. We’ll see where the afternoon takes us….