We got a little surprise at the  Midtown Farmers Market yesterday. Only the second week in May, but Peter and Carmen had a few small bundles of asparagus. We almost missed them – it pays to make a couple of passes through the market. The first asparagus of the year is always a cause for […]

Safe to say stew season is behind us. Now it’s time for fresh. None of this stuff is really growing in Minnesota yet in spring – the grass isn’t even growing yet. Nevertheless, the craving for raw vegetables is there and international shipping provides. Martha pointed out that as far as assemble-at-the-table meals go, spring […]

I’ve been using a 50mm prime lens since Uncle Don loaned me his D80 for my photography class earlier this year, and I’ve come to love the simplicity of it. Want to see something in more detail? Move closer. Need to see the whole thing? Back up. Thinking I might enjoy exploring another type of […]

With any luck, I’ve captured the official last snowfall of the year. On the left are images from my morning walk on Tuesday, while on the right are scenes from my morning walk on Friday. It’s been an odd week to say the least. We did our fair share of groaning at last week’s snow […]

Just a few weeks ago it seemed like the farmers markets would never open, and now here we are already two weekends into the season at the Midtown Farmers Market. And what a season we are having! May farmers market shopping in Minnesota in any normal year is an affair for the die-hards, an exercise […]

I make as much an effort as anyone to feign enthusiasm for ramps, but the real excitement of spring and the produce it brings doesn’t begin for me until I see the first spears of asparagus at the farmers market. Asparagus is a bellwether crop, like the late summer tomato, that signals the arrival of […]

This bright Saturday morning marked the fourth consecutive week of the Midtown Farmers Market 2011 season. May is a month of many market openings, but it never quite feels like real farmers market season since the crops aren’t quite growing and the weather is inconsistent, even for Minnesota. May 7th, opening weekend, was beautiful: sunny […]

Having missed last week, I was determined to get to Midtown Farmers Market with Tom despite this morning’s stay-in-bed weather. We suited up in rain pants and rain coats and made our way into the downpour. In exchange for soggy feet Tom found eggs, asparagus, and rhubarb. I picked up a zeppolo for my mom, […]

Tom made sure we’d arrive at Midtown Farmers Market right at 8 a.m. on its Opening Day on May 7. He promised to head straight for the produce–be it spinach, asparagus, or even last year’s apples. He swore he wouldn’t talk to anyone or even buy a coffee before making sure we had some of […]

Hoping to catch the earliest of the season’s morels, Tom and I headed south last weekend in search of the Minnesota State Mushroom. As with any mushroom trip, the central goal – the one that we try to convince ourselves of over and over, as we continue to tote an empty basket – was to have […]