Goal for NOFO: to eat on the patio there on a breezy sunny day and to buy something unique and fun at the store...or at least some fudge.After wandering around there, I decided to see what was going on at the Farmer's Market. I wish I lived closer to the market, because I would go there for all my produce instead of the grocery store. It is nice to taste before you buy, talk with the people who grow and pick the food, and build a relationship with some vendors beyond "that will be $21.56."
When I went, there were tons and tons of strawberries. If one wished to, one could gorge oneself on strawberry samples. Come June it will be peach samples...mmm. There is always a great selection of veggies - from Vidalia onions to turnips to lettuce to peppers. I think the Farmer's Market is one of the few places where dirt on produce is a comforting sight.
Further down in the same produce building is a little garden/nursery where people can purchase decorative plants and trees and herbs. I looked for some basil, but it had already been sold out. Another day.
There are three buildings behind the main Farmer's Market area. One is where people can buy ready-made food - fried stuff and pulled pork type things, I believe. In the main building, there are vendors selling painting, crafts, candies, desserts (pies and cakes), parts of cows - I wish I had gotten a picture of the list - shanks and shoulders, butts and briskets. However, what brings me to this building every time is the vast selection of jams, jellies, preserves, sauces, dressings, and honey. Oh the honey. Clover, wildflower, with the comb, without the comb. It truly looks like nectar of the gods...
Also in the jam building are a few other selections, as can be seen below in example and on banners (fresh rabbit, anyone?). The cast iron items are huge and extremely heavy. Not sure who would want to get a loaf of bread out of an oven when the pan weighs as much as a 4-year-old child.
So far, the only things I have bought in the jam/honey area has been as gifts, so one of these days, I am going to stock up on some North Carolina preserves (think of a fruit and they jar it), sticky honey, and part of a cow.
The third "second level" building is a pork market.
I was wary entering here thinking I would come face to face with whole hogs hanging from hooks. (Alliteration is my friend!) Thankfully, all the whole hogs had sold by this point, or they are kind enough to house them behind the fridges. If you want anything that is from a pig - they are your people. Bacon, pork skin, loins, chops, and these, the closest thing to a whole pig they had...
It is a fun place to be whether you are looking to buy things or not. The vendors are kind and helpful both with what makes a good rutabaga and what produce is coming in and going out of season. All the food I have bought there has been top notch and perfectly ripened. In fact, one vendor even told Aaron and I when we went last summer to wait a day or two to eat a certain kind of peach because it needed to ripen a little more. They know what they are talking about and have oodles of proof to show and taste from.For the curious who think if they visit they will miss out on the fresh Carolina food because there is no stove in the hotel room, fear not! There is a Farmer's Market restaurant across the street that serves food directly from the market. I have heard it is top notch. Or, if you are more interested in some seafood, how about the NC Seafood Restaurant?
Do you see why I want to live closer to the market? Fresh picked strawberries and seafood could quickly become a nightly dinner if I lived close.
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