My wife had an excellent idea about how we might better utilize our local farmers market. Specifically, over the years we’ve made a habit of visiting the lovely Hollywood Farmers Market throughout the summer. Unfortunately, we haven’t been terribly disciplined in leveraging those trips. While we would typically visit the market with $40 in hand, the cash was really in case we happened to spy some fresh goods that we couldn’t pass up, as opposed to being set aside for a specific purchase. While this rather undisciplined approach is fine, it’s certainly the inverse of a highly regimented, recipe-driven approach to shopping.

I’ve considered building out a plan for what we’d purchase from the market, but this isn’t terribly realistic as we don’t always know what’s going to be available, thereby making a pre-packaged menu a bit unreliable. This is where Keri’s great idea came into play: she suggested that we go to the market each week with a pre-set budget that we have to spend –not just a budget that we can spend. This is the key difference: we are forcing ourselves to purchase goods at a set dollar amount ($30) each week –so we have to come home broke.

Why is this an improvement? Simple. This new system forces us to make purchases at the market without a set menu, thereby driving us to be a bit more creative in our selection and the subsequent meals that take advantage of the weekly harvest. Additionally, as our own garden blossoms, we’ll be better prepared to support the output of our backyard crops with complementary farmers market goods that we’re not growing. Lastly, the market offers more than vegetables and fruits, so we have a nice crop of options to choose from, including cheese, fish, plant starts, juices, etc.

$30 harvest, May 9, 2009

With this as a weekly motivator for our family, I am now starting a farmers market diary to complement the garden diaries and carrier pigeon (box bike) diaries. In the photo to the right, you’ll see this week’s $30 farmers market haul, which includes the following:

• one potted chive start
• one potted cilantro start
• one potted zucchini start
• one bunch of radishes
• one bunch of basil
• one bunch of organic carrots
• one bunch of onions
• three organic purple potatoes ($1.75 –I kid you not)
• one pint of organic strawberries
• one-half gallon Heirloom Orchards apple cider ($6 –wow– grown and pressed in Hood River)