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Know Your Farm Market from Loulies

Enter a busy farm market on their peak day, wandering about shoulder-to-shoulder with other shoppers, and it is not uncommon to feel overwhelmed by the choices. Here in DC, we are lucky to have a number of thriving fresh farm markets (the largest is Dupont Circle's FreshFarm Market). But the fact remains, it can still feel like we need a guide to help us choose from all the glorious seasonal offerings. Remember this: as busy cooks, we need to shop farm markets more than ever because the fresher and tastier the raw ingredient, the easier it is to prepare a delicious meal. Here are a few tips to help:

Your List – Keep it loose with a few key items. A “market cook” looks first at what’s available and then at a recipe.

Learn the Market Layout – It can be frustrating to shop when you don’t know your way around, but after visiting the market a few times, you will learn the lay of the land as well as you know your regular grocery store - and better yet, you will actually know where and who your food comes from.

What’s Available - If it is not there, it is not in season or is not locally grown. One of the best things about shopping at the farm market is discovering and seeing new crops as they appear throughout a season. It is time to undo our years of “seasonless” shopping!

Judge What You Need – Produce is usually sold by weight such as ½ pound or 1 pound. For herbs, a small handful yields about 2 tablespoons, a small onion will yield about 1 cup chopped, and a generous handful of nuts is about 1 ounce and yields about 1/3 cup. Know how to distinguish between something fully-ripe and something that needs a few days on the counter (buying some of both is a good way to extend your purchases through the week).

Know What You Want to Spend - Placing yourself on somewhat of a budget will help you select and make choices. We can’t tell you how many times we have been to the market and have bought way more than any family could eat for the week. Caution: Don’t, however, underestimate, there are always treasures to be found and you want to have enough if you find something amazing.

Terminology - The terms variety and cultivar are often used interchangeably (cultivar is short for cultivated variety). Heirlooms and hybrids are categories within a variety. Heirloom refers to open-pollinated varieties (pollinated by wind, or insects and capable of reproducing consistently for generations). Hybrids are crosses between two varieties to create a new variety. For example, Celebrity, Early Girl and Brandywine are all tomato varieties or cultivars, but Celebrity and Early Girl are hybrids, while the century-old Brandywine is an heirloom.

Harvest, for me, is the scent and taste of winter squash and apples: fresh pumpkins and squashes baking, or canned for winter goodies; apple pies, spiced cider, fresh apples tart on the tongue.