Ahhhh.... it's Farmer's Market season here again. Michigan has a shorter growing season, so our Market doesn't open until late June, but we try to take full advantage of it!

Here are ten reasons that your local Farmer's Market is the best food option anytime:

1) Meet The Source.

Instead of the pimple-faced kid randomly dropping your tomatoes on the floor before they get wedged into the stand, at the FM you usually buy your nightshade fruit from the guy who grew it. Grocery stores: who knows where that thing was grown, in what soil conditions, picked green, gassed to get some color, and shipped hundreds, if not thousands, of miles before it reaches you.

2) Get Your Hands Dirty.

Food prep, cooking, eating... all of this is a very tactile experience. I love bringing home gritty lettuce and squash, knowing that it was picked fresh from my native Northern Michigan soil within a few hours of me actually eating it! Washing dirt off the veggies, sand off the strawberries is a soothing and almost grounding (get it!?!) experience for me, and I feel like I know the texture and weight of the food better as I go to prep it. Naturally occurring dirt is also much better than...

3) No Stupid Stickers!

Don't you just love this: you're shredding an apple for your favorite oatmeal cookie recipe. The shredder balks and shudders, breaking your rhythm, and you discover tiny bits of shredded PLU sticker in your cookie batter. Awesome. No cash registers means no PLUs- means no irritating little oval stickers to peel off your food!

4) Support Your Local Economy.

This one is obvious. Who benefits more from the $30 you're spending on berries and stew ingredients: Wal-Mart, or the Amish guy in the neighboring community? Wal-Mart will just gouge another employee on their health insurance, while the farmer can buy more seed, feed his own family, or just exist another day.

5) It's Healthier.

Even if the farmers don't grow organic, your food is more ripe, more natural, less travelled, and more fresh than anything you could get at a grocery store. Honey will have local pollen which is (allegedly) better for any allergies you may have. Naturally sun-ripened fruits & vegetables have a higher vitamin count and nutritional benefit.

6) Lessen Your Carbon Footprint.

From Mexico to Indiana, or Indiana to Indiana? Again, this one's obvious. Also, most rural farmland has been around for years, rather than being a result of massive slash-and-burn desecration.

Another point is that many local farmers use Mason jars, paper bags, wooden bushels, etc. Re-used and reusable storage. No fancy packaging to pay extra for, them throw away. My local produce market has a $2 deposit on strawberry flats, and they wash and re-use the little wood slat quart boxes!

7) Alternative Economy Possibilities.

We haven't tried this one much yet, but have spoken to people who have: barter, trade, bulk discounts, etc. You're not dealing with a huge faceless corporation here, but one or two live people with needs and reasoning skills. Do you have a service or product to provide? I need to start tempting the honey lady with my jewelry designs...

8) People.

Tuesday, Mike and I bought a raw milk share (finally!). This morning, Mike went to pick up our first gallon and a half of rich ivory dairy- with cream all ready to skim off the top for butter! When he got to the farm, he got to meet 'our' cow and its calf, as well as some happy children who live on the farm. Kid #3 went with him and got to see piggies, cows, horses & chickens. She fed the calf, got manure on her sandals, and generally had a blast. How much better is this kind of life than the sterile, cloistered environments most Americans are used to obtaining their food in?

One day last year a young man occupied an empty market stall. Dressed in 1940s era clothing- white shirt, suspenders, & high-waisted trousers- he played ragtime on his guitar and sang lovely songs, old and new. We bought his CD and threw some money in his hat. Turns out he's an old friend of my brother-in-law, breaking into the major music markets. I went home with salad, fresh flowers, and a lift in my step from the great music. Isn't that better than the same Elton John song over and over on the Meijer radio system? I think so.

Every time we go to the Farmer's Market we form another little relationship. Some of the people there are work-hardened, weather-beaten folks with little of a friendly exterior. But others are just the salt of the earth- with canning advice, stories, and a bit of banter for everyone they meet.

9) Happy Animals.

All of the farmers that I've seen in my area are humane folk. Their chickens are free-range, their cattle eat lovely green grass, and their creatures run free instead of being penned in a miserable dark stall for most of their lives. I know many of you out there do not eat meat or dairy because of inhumane animal practices, but I believe that an animal treated better in its life will just be a better meal.

10) Eat the Seasons.
Strawberries and asparagus grace our markets right now. In a few weeks we'll have blueberries and patty pan squash. Not only are menus easier to plan (for me, at least) when you know what's ready to cook, but I've been hearing a lot of great things about the health benefits of eating seasonal fresh veggies and fruits.

Eating what the Earth produces- when it produces- is ecologically sound, financially beneficial, and tasty. I could not bear one more plastic clamshell container of strawberries last month! Now, for just a short and lovely season, I have ripe strawberries that are actually sweet, have juice in them, and were allowed to ripen in the sunshine!

I can't think of anything more beautiful, more natural, or more perfect than the bounty that the Farmer's Market offers. From maple syrup to hot peppers, you'll find me there sniffing and shopping and eating and living. I hope to see you there, too!

Labels: carbon footprint, cooking, eating, ecology, economy, farm, farmers market, food, fruit, gas, honey, money, natural, produce, vegetables

I was cursed with this fine, limp, oily, stringy hair that I despise most days. I must say it is soft, and very shiny all of the time. It is so healthy that, on the rare occasions I pay someone to highlight it, they often have to go back and reapply because the cuticle will not break down. So, I guess I can't really complain, but I do anyhow, because I'm a woman.

I have struggled with dandruff since grade school, as most of the Italian side of my family has. Eating poorly (lots of bread & sugars) exacerbates the condition, but I'm too dumb to cut back in that area, so I suffer with the constant itch and snowfall of the stuff.

But I have, through some whack-job health book, discovered a wonderful and inexpensive treatment, as long as you have the patience for the mess and smell! Now, I know that the title says that it costs a dollar, but that's if you already have the ingredients. If you have to go out and buy any one of these items, it will surely cost you more than a dollar at first, but you'll probably love it anyhow!

Here's the combo:

2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp milk

mix these two well, then add:

3 tbsp olive oil (if you have jojoba oil, sweet almond oil, etc, you may try this as well. I just always use olive oil because I have it around)

whisk well, then add:

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

I know, it was all yummy and now it smells like Easter egg dye, but bear with me here. If you have any essential oils that you love, now would be a good time to drip some in. Of course, the addition of the vinegar curdled the milk and made it look all nasty, but can you imagine what your shampoo looks like before they blend it all pretty? Ok.

Now you will want to do this in either your tub, outside, or some area you can clean easily. Tip your head back and drip this mixture right into your hair, rubbing the stuff down into your scalp gently. If you have one of those ketchup bottle things that one puts hair dye in, that would probably work well, or have a friend or husband help you. Then quickly, before the vinegar runs into your eyes, wrap a thick (preferably warm!) towel around your head. Let it sit there, doing its yummy magic, for about twenty minutes. This is when I usually do a mud mask as well, since I'm already crusty.

Wash well. You can feel the difference in your hair even while you're shampooing it! Lighter, softer, silkier, and any itch that normally is there should be gone now, at least for a few days.

Now, make your kids fix you some nachos, while you go kick up your feet and enjoy your hair.

Labels: dandruff, hair, honey, indulgence, milk, olive oil, treatment, vinegar