Saturday, June 7—The Big Day—Milbridge Farmer’s Market

We woke up a bit later than we wanted to, finally took the kayaks off the roof of the van, and after a cup of Joe, we were able to get out and drive the 17 minutes to town to the long-awaited Milbridge Farmer’s Market. Now, the farmers markets I’ve seen in Phoenix and many other towns across the USA are big productions, so when we drove up and I saw only about six purveyors, I was a bit bummed—until I got out of the car. Our main purpose for the visit was for vegetable seedlings—peppers, tomatoes, herbs (basil, sage, thyme), and flowers (buttercups, lupines). I also bought goat cheese (Italian lovers) and homemade Feta, along with a loaf of whole wheat bread (unsliced). Next week, we’ll look at the offerings of the Pork lady—all sorts of sausages, pork loin, spareribs, pork chops—no antibiotics—all organic—expensive, but worth it.

Now we had to find pots—which we did at the Family Dollar Store. So we bought pots, saucers for the pots and a few other things. Then, we had to find potting soil since Maine soil is very rocky and peaty. Which to do—a right turn or a left turn. I voted right and less than ½ a mile away, we found a large hardware/construction store.  I also bought some nails for the furniture I’m going to build (Bob says, “Yeah, sure!”) and a few MacGiver tools to help foil the squirrels successful efforts to steal the suet Bob has hanging on one of the trees outside the kitchen for the birds. We’ve lost one so far.

Then it was time for vegetable roasting. Roasting vegetables intensifies their flavor by bringing out the natural sugars. I prepared eggplant, zucchini, crookneck squash, peppers (red, yellow, orange), Roma tomatoes by slicing them in thick slices and mixing them in a bowl with salt, pepper, olive oil. I also prepared the Broccoli Rabe for sauteeing in olive oil with garlic and a pinch of salt. I should have done this on one of the afternoons we were freezing because this propane stove/oven really can heat up this little place. But, I’m all done. I wish I could freeze everything, but I’m sure they’d be soggy when defrosted. That’s a lot of veggies for me to eat (Bob doesn’t eat any of the ones I mentioned above).