The Farmers’ Market

Making the most of the harvest for the winter’s pantry

It was late August, and the temperature went from summer in the 90’s to autumn– raining– in the high 40’s.  I do believe that our eggplant got a case of frostbite; at least the leaves seem to indicate so.  We had not yet fully gone “all in” on our summer food preservation so the untimely weather had me at the Farmer’s market, since our gardening was lackluster this year. 

 The downside is that it was very cold and wet, and only a few booths were open.  Trying to find the upside, I took some photos of all of the colors that struck me on the cold, rainy day.  If beautiful, brightly colored veggies cannot make you happy on a dreary day, then you may be too far gone for this blog. 

As it turns out, Pantry Paratus, Inc. started out in a farmer’s market years ago.  It was prior to our website launching, but we were passionate to get our products into the hands of people who wanted to preserve their food, too.  All through the cold wet spring in Northwest Montana, Chaya set up the booth, passing out free samples of Tattler lids.  All throughout the desert-dry summer, Chaya offered breadbaking troubleshooting to anyone who asked while Bugaloo (still in her two’s) fought against taking a nap in the sloping backseat of the truck.  In the dead heat of summer when there was no respite from the sun, we built our brand.  So shopping a farmer’s market now brings about a bit of nostalgia, perhaps even moreso on a day like that. 

 We had been strategizing all summer long with whom we would make the big end-of-summer bulk food push.  Chaya has a very tender spot for businesses that support people with disabilities, so the booth selling tomatoes will likely be selling us at least four cases of tomatoes to dehydrate and to make into sauce for the winter (we like pasta)–it is work program for people with disabilities.  I  found a farmer who pasture-raises his pigs, so we reserved a whole hog with him.  We have enjoyed produce from some very industrious youth, and some cases of apples (of which some are in the dehydrator as I type this) from the couple who drives them all the way in from a no-spray farm in Washington State. 

But this day I was just there for the basics; I needed to pick up some produce for a dehydrating demo class that Chaya is holding at the Zone 4 Live! event in Pray, MT next week.  $18 was the arbitrary amount that I had in mind to get, and also happened to be the amount of money in my pocket.  So I shopped around and here is what I took home. 

This picture does not do justice to the scale; that is over 1/2 of our dining room table.  Not bad all told, and all of it went to use.  This is actually the secret multiplier to making summer last—do not waste anything!  Any bruised spots, stems, cores, or dried ends go into the jar in order to later go out to the compost pile.  Some other tougher bits and peels go into a bag in the freezer for Chaya’s totally free homemade broth.  Sharon Peterson from Simply Canning has a blog on how to make stock, too.  

Compost Keeper available at Pantry Paratus

Nothing goes to waste.  Why?  Because we are taking the best exports of from a farm into our home as our inputs, and what a shame it is to not use all of it.  And, in the next two blogs I can show you how to make use of those left over bits that may not seem all that tastey . . . come back and see us for Preserving Summer’s End Part 1 and 2. 

Pro Deo et Patria,

Wilson

 Proviso:

Nothing in this blog constitutes medical or legal advice.  You should consult your own physician before making any dietary changes.  Statements in this blog may or may not be congruent with current USDA or FDA guidance.