Sunday Marché on Columbus Avenue

Seen on a sunny summer Sunday in July - 

Jersey Beefsteak Tomatoes

Jersey Peaches - they were yummy

Plants, Flowers and Herbs

Lavender - "Here!  Try one!"

Long Island Corn

I didn't even have to sit on a train or bus or expressway traffic in the heat for hours!  Just a quick five-minute walk from my Manhattan home on a Sunday morning, and there it is.  These neighborhood farmers' markets have really improved and grown over recent years.  Just click on the link to see how many and where they are located throughout NYC.  They now sell so many things besides produce, such as baked goods, cheeses, meats, freshly caught fish, and even ostrich meat and eggs!

It's a wonderful thing (and selfishly it benefits me, too) that more and more of my fellow New Yorkers show such a serious interest in the origin and quality of what they consume.  I hadn't been making a Sunday farmers' market shopping excursion part of my routine, but after I saw how quickly my impulse purchase of six peaches were consumed at home by three people (the same day!), it's definitely going to become a regular part of my weekend.  

There really is a difference between the taste of peaches from the market and peaches from the store, even if the sign says they're "local."  There's another important difference, too.   They're tree-ripened so they're ready to eat NOW.  The downside of that is they better get eaten now.  They're not going to ripen over the next few days; they're just going to rot.  That's the thinking, of course, behind the daily visit to a local market that customarily exists in many places, but not in the United States where we usually bulk up once a week or so (and then bulk up literally).  But I prefer the daily shopping - I buy just what I'm going to use and also don't have to decide on what I'm going to have for dinner until just a few hours before I'm going to eat it.  So much more satisfying and, to me, far easier.

Ah, New York.