Fresh Produce = Priceless

I took the day off work today to write and shop (and, if the weather holds, head out to the Canfield Fair to gawk at farm animals). The morning's shopping went well. Almost all the fresh produce I need for Rabbit & Andouille Gumbo is available locally this time of year.

The prices I paid were a bit high for bargain-hunters, but I was shopping early in the morning when the produce was still being unloaded from the truck. If you shop later in the day, you may not quite the same freshness as I did, but you are bound to find more bargains. Farm stands tend to drop their prices when the sun is high in the sky and they start thinking about reloading that truck and heading home.

From the Angiuli Farm produce stand on Market Street in Youngstown, Ohio, I purchased the following:

Squat red bell peppers = $ 3

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Multi-colored jalapeno peppers = $ 3

I love how variable Nature is, making jokes, upending our expectations. When we step in and edit her work, sorting for identical sizes and sameness, we miss out on things like this pepper with a nose.

These glorious tomatoes ( = $ 3) look much better in person. Maybe I need a new camera. Or a better lighting system.

Wide green beans = $ 3

And last, but not least, sweet corn from Catalpa Grove Farm in Columbiana, Ohio (actually purchased at the Giant Eagle grocery store in Boardman, Ohio) = $1

Total price tag for this shopping spree was $13, for much more produce than I actually need for one dish.

Because I live alone, I am already thinking about how to make the most of all these vegetables with the least amount of effort. Tomorrow, while I'm in the kitchen cooking up a mess of rabbit gumbo, I will also be strategizing for quick and easy food preservation.

How about you? Do you have a favorite summer farm stand?