Farmer's Market Fridays - 8/5/11

Happy Friday, everyone!  It's a gorgeous day in Dearborn and the weather was perfect for my weekly trip to the farmer's market with my mom.  First was yoga, as usual.  We did standing poses almost the entire class - something that made me very happy since I have zero flexibility when it comes to seated forward bends.  (Remember the "sit and reach" test in elementary school gym class?  I always had a negative score and I doubt I'd do any better on it today.)  

Next I ate what was possibly the world's most perfect banana.  It was too good to not mention!

When we got to the market I was relieved to see see that Avalon was back after not being there last week.  My mom and I had a long chat with the our Avalon friend, who (after 2 years of farmer's markets) I now know is named Mike.  Our conversation started when we noticed this snazzy new display case on the table:

Nice, huh?  Mike started to tell us about how well the company is doing, especially since being picked up by Whole Foods (5 locations, with a new Detroit location just announced).  The stores carry an extensive line of Avalon vegan goodies and will be expanding into other products, as well.  Because of the high demand for their products, Avalon is going to start doing high-volume baking in a nearby building.  It sounds like there are big, big plans for the company, which I think is so exciting.  We talked about the steps they take to reduce waste through composting and recycling, something that unfortunately is not a common practice in Detroit (and even in Michigan, sadly).  The hope is that Avalon will serve as a model for other businesses in the Midtown area in terms of community and sustainability.  It was a really interesting conversation. 

Finally I bought my date bar and we moved on to pick up our Living Stones CSA shares.  It was another good haul this week:

broccoli, pea shoots, beets, kale (curly and dinosaur), rainbow chard, cabbage, squash (yellow and patty pan), 6 cucumbers, 5 onions, 2 tomatoes

We got flowers from Living Stones, too!

Our last stop was to visit Farmer Glen.  I promised myself I wouldn't buy anything this week because I still have a few potatoes and carrots left from last week (plus all the above items from our share) but when I saw that he had kohlrabi, I couldn't resist.  There were some gigantic ones but I went with some that were a little more reasonably sized.  I can't wait to put some in my salad tonight!

kohlrabi

After the market we went over to Panera.  I had my date bar with a cup of coffee and both were delicious, as usual.


Now I think it's time for a short run, followed by a Banana Chamomile Smoothie.

Have a great weekend!