by Jack Moffitt

Hello Brownsville!

Carrots are now showing up regularly at the Market. The seed doesn’t want to germinate when it is hot, and they grow a little slower than some of the other crops that are now old hat, this time of year.

In a country where the pursuit of cheap food is king, the Imperator carrot is the one most of us grow up eating. It gains weight well, so it appeals to the farmer, as he usually sells by the pound. The Imperator stores like a phonebook, so the grocers like them, as well. Processors have found they can carve “baby” carrots out of them, so yet another faction drives the Imperator sales.

We are fortunate to have a Farmers Market, otherwise we might never taste the likes of the Chantenay, the Nantes, the Atomic Reds and the other varieties of carrots available.  The Nantes variety is one of my favorites with a small blunt cigar shaped root. The Chantenay looks similar but  is a bit wider at the top. Both make great baby carrots, with lots of color. We grew some Atomic Reds last year, and they were fun, but the red dissipates pretty quickly after they are picked.

Our pickiest customers prefer our smallest carrots. At first that seemed backwards to me, but the aroma, taste and texture of the baby is so far superior, the extra processing per pound in the kitchen is well worth it. I’ve gone from tapping my foot waiting on growth, to apprehension that my carrots got too big. That is a real benefit in the Farmers Market setting – feedback!

Carrots are one of the veggies that actually have more nutritional value cooked and processed, than raw and whole.

We  sell carrots our carrots with the tops on…or should I say the carrots with the tops on, sell themselves. The tops are actually wicking away water from the root and it will become rubbery as it becomes dehydrated. You can combat this several ways. You can cut the tops off as soon as you get the carrots, or you can rehydrate them by soaking them in cold water for a few minutes. Finally, you can keep the roots wrapped in a wet cloth or plain paper towel while in storage. I have gotten my carrots to stay perky with their tops on for a week this way.

If you are having trouble getting your youngster to eat a lot of veggies carrots are a great starter veggie, especially the bright and flavorful varieties. Plus, tell them if they eat enough carrots, they can turn themselves orange by giving themselves a case of carotenosis. It is a harmless condition occurring when one ingests too much carotene.

The Graybill Report

Hello Jack,

Seen at the market last week:

Bayview Veggies had their special salad mixes, mustard greens, sprouts (broccoli, mung bean, alfalfa, french garden, daikon, kamut, and “Amber Waves of Grain”), turnip greens, Swiss chard, arugula (small and large), Italian dandelion greens, and oranges

Yahweh Farms had broccoli, orages, spinach, kohlrabi, radishes, cilantro, mustard greens, grapefruit, eggs, and romaine lettuce.

Two Pines had radishes, young mixed lettuces,  Swiss chard, mustard greens,  assorted lettuces (including Romaine, bib, and arugula), cilantro, dill,   New Zealand spinach, Holland greens, and leeks.

Resaca Grove had grapefruit and pecans

Dickerson’s Backyard will be back to the market soon with new produce.

Gracia Farm had eggs, red and white radishes,  leaf lettuce, icicle radishes, turnips, kale, nopales, cilantro, Swiss chard, carrots, and daikon.

By Ruth had fresh mint, lemongrass, calamondins, valley lemons, dill, grapefruit (ruby and pink), sugar snap peas, Swiss chard, aloe, turnips, and cilantro as well as her  handmade aprons and table linens, and handcrafted jewelry.

Acacia Farms had broccoli, arugula, endive, gourmet baby leaf lettuce, radishes, Italian cheddar cauliflower, cauliflower (did you buy your sour cream to test drive Jacks’s recipe from last week??), Swiss chard, thyme, oregano, spinach, watermelon radishes, bok choy, cilantro, carrots,  turnips, grapefruit, chinese cabbage, and rutabaga.

Nam Nguyen had Holland greens, arugula, cilantro, and daikon. He also had some sort of mystery greens that none of our growers could identify - (how well do I know how THAT can happen, as I have had zealous little gardeners at my house sow their seed in the wind – and fail to remember just which of the 10 different empty seed packets in their hands it happened to come from - and reap a whirlwind of we know not what or even where).

The Alaniz family had cabbage, tomatos, cilantro, nopales, and dates.

Gorgas Science Club had grapefruit, tangerines, tangelos, and navel oranges.

Do you remember the $1 Bunch Carrot girls from last year?  They’re back, with their big ‘ol carrots.

Jason was there, popping his Kettle Corn, and of course Letty and her family are always there with their delicious, outrageously-piled up high- Fruit Cups.

Alice, of Alice’s Kountry Kitchen, had her nutritious baked goods made with organic flour and local honey.  She says to tell you that she is cranking out granola, using her whole grains and farmer’s market honey, and she encourages everyone to start their day out right with her health-packed granola.

Texas Gold Shrimp were back with their wild caught gulf shrimp.

Perrenial Favorites had their vegetable, herb, and ornamental transplants available.

We (the Graybills) of course had our valley honey, eggs, and we brought our 100% beeswax candles.

The kids have been enjoying the rain.  The little ones run around in it with complete abandon;  they return to the back door looking like muddy Sasquatch-people,  or at least refugees from Woodstock.  The big ones like it because life slows down for them – the garden does not need them, and other outdoor projects (seemingly endless as they are) get put on hold “until the weather clears”, as we say.

The chickens love the rain because of all the bugs that get flooded out of their hiding places, and the ducks and geese fluff themselves up and wade around happily in the pooling, low spots.

I like the glow of a light on in the house during the day because of the novelty of a dark day-sky, the sound of the screen door rattling around in the wind, and the outrageous green of the garden, grass, and trees.

Vain as it is, I have often found myself complaining about the weather.  Not my husband.  If it’s raining, he will be out in it, a mysterious figure with a shovel out in the mist.  Not my friend Gene.  On the coldest, iciest morning of the year,  he was out taking a walk.  Certainly not my kids; they run out the door to embrace it, letting that screen door slam with satisfaction.

I am cultivating that attitude in myself, and I am finding that different weather is actually exhilarating.

The farmer’s market is a great place to experience weather.  It was a cloudy, cool morning recently and a market-goer who stopped by the stand to pick up some honey for his restaurant noticed that I was basking in a single golden sun ray that was seemingly earnestly making it’s way down to warm the market.  My customer smiled, and told me of a Mexican saying that (translated to English) goes:  “The sun is the blanket of the poor man”.

That warmed me more than even the sun could.

See you at the market – where we enjoy the weather, no matter what it is,

Erin

Your humble correspondents, Jack Moffitt and Erin Graybill

The Brownsville Farmers’ Market
Saturdays from 9am – Noon
Linear Park
Harrison St. between E. 6th and E. 7th