Stone Soup by Jan Eliot for April 22, 2012

By Andy’s standards, I’m old, and if there’s one thing I hate it’s market.

Ooo! Can I come to the Market too? I need some fresh asparagus and mushrooms!

I knew I was older when I realized my 15 year old preferred bringing his hand held games along for car rides anywhere, to having a conversation with me.

I guess it depends on the farmers market. The one here has real live farmers.

I use to take my high school students to the farmers market in the city and they loved it. Most had never really seen so much fresh food and they got to sample it. Now I live in the mountains in the country and we have a small farmers market. It is not as expensive as the grocery store and yes there is a big difference in farm fresh eggs and store bought eggs. The shell is dirty, the yoke is a deep yellow, the white is not runny and the taste is flavorful.

The last time I went to a farmers market I was sold to the highest bidder!

I love the farmers market in my town. It’s an organic food farmers market so when comparing prices it is actually cheaper. Most places are if you go to the right spot. Also the fact your supporting a local farmer is a huge plus and can be more beneficial in the long run for you.

Fresh eggs, asparagus, mushrooms – think I’ll go whip up an omelette.

A fresh egg, one laid in the last 24 hours, is much better than one that is a week old. The problem here is that the organic farmer may not be selling his freshest eggs, but his oldest eggs sell first.

I don’t know about farmer’s market, but I went to flea markets in California and have been to the Portland Saturday Market once. You see all sorts of interesting wares and characters there.

A few years ago a friend gave me a birthday card that said “You’re not old until you find ways to reuse bread bags.” I screamed in horror because I’d been using them for years to hold the bits I scoop out of the cat litter. At least revenge came quickly when she got a dog and needed the bags when they went walkies.

Thanks, Jan, for your political slant this week.

Dang, I’m soooooooo hungry now!!!!!!!!!

Here in Eugene where Jan lives, the farmers market is excellent. Definitely plenty of real live farmers, The produce is exceptionally fresh and the variety dwarfs any grocery store. Add the baked goods, craft market, music, and food booths, and vegie starts and it’s a lot of fun. I went far more when I was in high school than I do now just to hang out with friends, play some hackey-sack, and listen to live music.

It’s okay. He’ll appreciate it when he’s older… happens every time.

Our FM’s sell the best soft pretzels- better than Auntie Anne’s. Plus the one candy stand is AWESOME!

Now I want cantelope

How about fresh tomatoes?

Here in Idaho we grow all of our own produce so it’s right out our back door or we barter for what we don"t grow.

Gee, all of a sudden we’re back to the Stone Soup regimen. I’m sorry. I really appreciated this fanatical lib making sport of Dick Cheney, a man who has given his life to serving the country, who has gone through a difficult and painful transplant, who received vulgar and unwarranted scorn from wild-eyed libs (including the author of this worthless strip.) Ah yes—when you can’t attack on the basis of fact, just attack.

So you follow this “worthless strip” only to whine about topics that aren’t even being covered anymore?

I am still looking for that Farmer who grows the Bananas in the USA ! They all have them but they don’t have any trees.

Ask the vednor how much land they own ! 90% are NOT Farmers just buy their stock from a Warehouse and compete with your local grocery. Prices go up at the grocery store and they have more waste while people but the illusion of farm fresh

We have a group of organic farmers who bring a bag of freshly-picked produce once a week to previously-selected drop-off points for anybody who has signed up for the summer. The farmers decide what to put in the bags, so you never know what you will be getting, but they thoughtfully put in some notes about how to cook it, some recipes, and so on.

Now why haven’t I signed up?? It sounds wonderful!! Guess it’s my (sigh) inertia taking hold…

Moooooooooooooo!