You Grow It, I’ll Habit

I have a confession to make, blog world. Matea and I have been making “deals” on the side in order to feed our addictions and hedonistic cravings. That’s right, we needed a fix. So a couple of weeks ago we met up with an elderly Hungarian woman named Gita, whom a friend told us about, at her home in South Burlington. A number of other strange characters were coming in and out of the house as we approached the door. She greeted us warmly and welcomed us in to view the goods she had precisely portioned out on a scale in her garage earlier that morning. She had brought it in from somewhere in New Jersey the night before.

“Are you Matea?” she said in a thick Hungarian accent. Matea smiled nervously and said yes. I stood near the door as another “customer” walked out, calling behind him, “Danke schön!” My excitement was growing; I hadn’t been able to partake since my college days, nearly six years ago now. After a few pleasantries, money exchanged hands and I was on my way out with the high-quality stuff we had scored.

As soon as we got home, we hid most of it away in a black box. The next morning I prepared a small portion for consumption, removing the stems, etc. I was both giddy and nervous, hoping that the experience would be as good as I had remembered. I could smell the familiar earthy sweetness as I brought it to my mouth. I closed my eyes and took a hit, and it was utter perfection, exactly as I dreamed it would be. It was sweet, satisfying...and a little fuzzy. It was a peach.

Indeed, New Jersey was the last place I imagined getting a peach as good as the ones grown in South Carolina, and I had especially never thought I would meet up with some Hungarian stranger to buy them in 25-pound batches. But it proved to be more than worth it. They were of the perfect consistency, with perfect shape and color. For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been taking four at a time out of the fridge (black box) and letting them ripen to perfection in the kitchen window sill. By now, we are towards the end of the batch and will have to wait another year before Gita and her daughter make the trek down to Jersey and again fill their SUV with crates of the delicate fruit. Until now, it’s been impossible to find an edible peach in Vermont. They’re all tasteless, mushy, or hard. I’m so glad we now have a dealer we can trust.

In that same vein (ok, enough drug references), I’ve also been in contact this week with Hank at Lewis Creek Farm in Starksboro. They’re going to deliver us seven flats of delectably sweet red and yellow cherry tomatoes at the Burlington Farmer’s Market on Saturday. That’s eighty-four pints of tomatoes, and we still need to search for a few more flats of Sun Golds (yellow) to even out the mix. If all goes well, we’ll have over 100 pints of tomatoes this weekend to be cooked down slowly into a confit that Matea makes. It is a deceptively simple mixture of halved cherry tomatoes, fresh garlic and basil, olive oil, a pinch of chili flakes, and a splash of balsamic vinegar, baked for about two hours on low heat until much of the moisture is gone. Served over pasta, it is arguably one of the best things I’ve ever eaten. We make big batches in the summer to last us through the rest of the year.

Hopefully there will also be time to find more sweet corn before winter. The best I’ve had so far this year came from Adam’s Farm Market, at the junction of Mountain View and Old Stage roads in Williston. It was super plump and sweet, and multi-colored the way I like it. Adams also has cut your own flowers available (beautiful Zinnias) and other delicious fruits and veggies grown right there in their garden. I ate nearly a quart of their fresh strawberries the other night, and they were also the best I’ve had this year.

If the forecasters are wrong this weekend like they were last, you will find us in downtown Burlington this Saturday afternoon getting our fix along with the rest of the fresh-food junkies in City Hall Park. The farmer’s market is by far our favorite activity in the summertime. It’s an opportunity for some interesting people watching, a chance to see your neighbors and community members...and their dogs. I love seeing the fresh veggies and growers who show up with dirt under their nails, having just picked my dinner from the field that morning. It is a rare opportunity for a direct connection, and it gives us a real appreciation for what we’re bringing to the table. Last week, in addition to other crops from other vendors, we bought sweet onions (delicious on the grill), carrots, broccoli, leeks, squash, and zucchini from Full Moon Farm, which is owned by Chittenden County Representative David Zuckerman (the Progressive who, incidentally, introduced the marriage equality bill that will take effect this coming Monday, September 1) and his wife Rachel Nevitt. How “Vermont” is that! And an especially rare case of mutual support and symbiosis among community members.

And for my friends who think the prices are just a tad high, here’s an interesting tidbit from another blog on economics:

A recent Oregonian article on the high prices at Farmers Markets raises an interesting question: just what are you paying for? The Oregonian article focuses on the high prices charged at the market and how this compares to CSAs and supermarkets. There is a long discussion of what the prices actually reflect, yet, interestingly, the discussion fails to mention (or at least explicitly couch it in terms of) the basic economic concept of supply and demand.

The demand for farmer's markets comes from people who want to consume the food that can be purchased there, but it also comes from the desire to attend an enjoyable open air market, to interact with the people responsible for growing the food, to be able to select the best possible quality and to support local agriculture.

On the supply side, the cost of providing produce to a farmer's market can be higher because of a lack of effectively taking advantage of scale efficiencies, cost of time and transport to attend the market and the extra cost of selecting the highest quality from among your crops.

Put these two together and there is little mystery why farmer's market prices are higher in equilibrium than in a supermarket, and nothing sinister either: What we pay for as consumers is a lot more than just a commodity.

Hope to see you all at a local market (or in Jersey!)...Bon appétit!