Fresh veggies: Monday, October 18, 2010
5:59 p.m.
Today's blog has been inspired by a dream that I had last night--of all things, LETTUCE. Can you believe that I actually dreamt about LETTUCE???? I can and I have!!! I want to write of one of the beauties of living in an area that is in such close proximity to produce farms--well, any kind of farm, really. It was one of the things that made me fall in love with my new town when we moved here fourteen years ago.
We moved into our new home on Thanksgiving Day, 1996 and we were barely settled. That following Monday, and every Monday thereafter, a heavy handed knock has come on our door. It is one of our local farmers, Mr. Wayne Gaston, or otherwise known as the "egg man", selling his wares. When we first moved in here, he drove around in such a beat up old van, but I think his farm and his door-to-door business was booming because he managed to upgrade to a nice, shiny red van--and help his sons buy a pizza joint. During the summer months and school holidays, his grandchildren help with the door-to-door business, as his sons had done before them.
His products are of awesome quality!!! His product is all seasonal, of course, but every chance I get, I buy my produce needs from him. I am also always very impressed with the size of his fruits and vegetables. Every week, he has eggs, potatoes (both red and white), and onions. Come Spring, his stock begins to rotate--whatever is in season is what is on the back of that van. It begins with blueberries, which I have joked in the past, are so large that you only need one or two to fill up the blueberry pancakes or muffins that you make. Then it moves onto the extremely large and sweet strawberries, which I promptly cut and quarter in a bowl and put in the refrigerator for various uses. They are so sweet, you don't even need to put sugar on them to make them edible.
Late summer starts to bring us to the sweet corn--white, yellow, and bi-color. It is so tender that the juice runs down your arm when you bite into it. Of course, the tomatoes are the highlight of our summer--he brings us grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, red, and yellow tomatoes. There is also cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, and zucchini. At this time of the year, we eat so much corn that you would think we would get sick of it....but we never do!!!! Also, the tomatoes are in our house so long during the summer that we end up with blisters on our tongues from so many tomato sandwiches, tomato salads, or just simply, tomato slices!!! Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes...bring me more tomatoes!!! This year, he even had peaches--his orchard has finally started to produce so he will have them every year now, he tells me. Every two weeks or so, during zucchini season, we make it a point to have some grilled zucchini--a vegetable I hated as a child. Being able to have them delivered to my door made me want to try, and continue, eating that most-hated vegetable of my childhood (next to lima beans, of course).
Now, that Autumn has fallen (no pun intended) upon us, he has a whole new round of products to peddle. In addition to his usual eggs, potatoes (his white ones are the best, by the way), leftover tomatoes, and onions, he now has cabbage (an average sized head is larger than my own;P), apples (both MacIntosh and Golden Delicious), neck pumpkins, turnips, and red beets. Sorry, I will NEVER purchase a turnip, but I may just, sometime down the line, if I learn how to cook a fresh beet, consider buying a couple of those to try--I guess you never know until you TRY, huh???
So, here's to you Mr. Gaston--the man who brings to me my weekly supply of eggs, feeds my addiction to tomatoes and corn, and keeps my produce bill from emptying pockets. I salute you!!! I truly am glad you came up with your door-to-door peddling idea. I don't know how long you have been at it, but I hope it continues for a good long time!!!
We moved into our new home on Thanksgiving Day, 1996 and we were barely settled. That following Monday, and every Monday thereafter, a heavy handed knock has come on our door. It is one of our local farmers, Mr. Wayne Gaston, or otherwise known as the "egg man", selling his wares. When we first moved in here, he drove around in such a beat up old van, but I think his farm and his door-to-door business was booming because he managed to upgrade to a nice, shiny red van--and help his sons buy a pizza joint. During the summer months and school holidays, his grandchildren help with the door-to-door business, as his sons had done before them.
His products are of awesome quality!!! His product is all seasonal, of course, but every chance I get, I buy my produce needs from him. I am also always very impressed with the size of his fruits and vegetables. Every week, he has eggs, potatoes (both red and white), and onions. Come Spring, his stock begins to rotate--whatever is in season is what is on the back of that van. It begins with blueberries, which I have joked in the past, are so large that you only need one or two to fill up the blueberry pancakes or muffins that you make. Then it moves onto the extremely large and sweet strawberries, which I promptly cut and quarter in a bowl and put in the refrigerator for various uses. They are so sweet, you don't even need to put sugar on them to make them edible.
Late summer starts to bring us to the sweet corn--white, yellow, and bi-color. It is so tender that the juice runs down your arm when you bite into it. Of course, the tomatoes are the highlight of our summer--he brings us grape tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, red, and yellow tomatoes. There is also cucumbers, pickling cucumbers, and zucchini. At this time of the year, we eat so much corn that you would think we would get sick of it....but we never do!!!! Also, the tomatoes are in our house so long during the summer that we end up with blisters on our tongues from so many tomato sandwiches, tomato salads, or just simply, tomato slices!!! Tomatoes, tomatoes, tomatoes...bring me more tomatoes!!! This year, he even had peaches--his orchard has finally started to produce so he will have them every year now, he tells me. Every two weeks or so, during zucchini season, we make it a point to have some grilled zucchini--a vegetable I hated as a child. Being able to have them delivered to my door made me want to try, and continue, eating that most-hated vegetable of my childhood (next to lima beans, of course).
Now, that Autumn has fallen (no pun intended) upon us, he has a whole new round of products to peddle. In addition to his usual eggs, potatoes (his white ones are the best, by the way), leftover tomatoes, and onions, he now has cabbage (an average sized head is larger than my own;P), apples (both MacIntosh and Golden Delicious), neck pumpkins, turnips, and red beets. Sorry, I will NEVER purchase a turnip, but I may just, sometime down the line, if I learn how to cook a fresh beet, consider buying a couple of those to try--I guess you never know until you TRY, huh???
So, here's to you Mr. Gaston--the man who brings to me my weekly supply of eggs, feeds my addiction to tomatoes and corn, and keeps my produce bill from emptying pockets. I salute you!!! I truly am glad you came up with your door-to-door peddling idea. I don't know how long you have been at it, but I hope it continues for a good long time!!!
