sky farmers market

(DG note: I started this entry three weeks ago and never got a chance to finish it. As most of you know, I travel quite a bit for work and am therefore largely unavailable for dumbassery. Great news, though — travel season is over until August!)

Today (April 10 — ed. note) is the opening day of the SKy (as in Southern Kentucky) Farmers’ Market, which is conveniently held in a parking lot within walking distance of my humble abode. In a fit of seventh-grade nostalgia, some friends slept over last night in honor of this monumental occasion (and because we wanted an excuse to eat junk food all night), and this morning we woke up at the crack of dawn to see what the farmers had for us. The great thing about the SKy Farmers’ Market is that everything there comes from somewhere in our region, and whatever you buy was either grown or made in our (figurative) backyard. My personal goal is to buy and eat more locally this summer, so I was very excited to wander among the items for sale.

Here’s today’s haul, carefully carried home in the crocheted grocery bag my friend Anne made for me last year:

I bought the coffee yesterday, but it’s still local.

The bounty includes fair-trade, organic Highlander Grog coffee from Spencer’s Coffeehouse (coarse ground for a french press); Swiss and tomato basil cheddar cheeses from Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese; triple berry jam from Apple Berry Farms (the gentleman staffing the table said the three berries mean it tastes different every time you eat it); and jalapeno pepper bread from a lovely Amish or Mennonite (not sure which) family. After a bit more poking around, we saw a sign advertising eggs “from contented hens” for sale, which made me smile. My mother would have thought that was hilarious. Alas, we didn’t need eggs, so the girls and I walked back home. They left for their respective houses and I got busy making breakfast:

I included the pan in this pic because it’s so phenomenal. This omelet came out perfect!

That’s tomato-basil cheese oozing from that omelet, which was pretty darn fantastic despite the fact that the eggs probably didn’t come from contented hens. The jalapeno bread wasn’t too spicy, which is nice for my wussy taste buds, and the Highlander Grog coffee was spectacular, as is everything that comes from Spencer’s.

I hit the road for a few weeks shortly after I started this post, so recently my dinners have been along the lines of Taco Bell’s combo #3, Lunchables pizza kits, and the like. I’m beyond excited to settle down at home for a little while. I’ve been toying with the idea of requesting a plot in the community garden nearby, but my attempts at balcony gardening have been so hopeless that I’m almost scared to try. Anyone have any tips for successful summer gardening?