Farmer's markets

 It doesn’t take long to become a farmer’s market aficionado when you live in California. These are real farmer’s markets, with stalls overflowing with vegetables and fruit. There are markets most days of the week – Saturday in Davis; Sunday: under the freeway in Sacramento; Tuesday and Wednesday in downtown Sac parks, Thursday by city hall in West Sac.

We have our favorite urban market under the freeway that is loud and crowded. People might get a little pushy. It’s a get-in, get-out kind of place, but its appeal is in its size. If you can’t find it here, it’s not in season in California. This market is for people who shop. Some tote little carts to manage their haul.

It’s easy to tell the season, even the month, after a stroll around the markets.

In early June, there are mountains of cherries, separated by bing, rainier, and “special.” Walk up to a stand and I’m offered a sample. Which one do I want? Sweet or tart? I pause for a moment and am quickly offered both to try. Definitely sweet is my choice and I fill up a bag. To my side, my husband is filling a bag with tart cherries. For two weeks, we run back to farmer’s markets and gorge ourselves on cherries.

Then, suddenly, they’re gone.

It’s late June and the peaches and nectarines are in. Giant sunflowers leap out of buckets in the central stalls, along with sweet peas, hydrangeas and monster-sized dahlias. We sample the peaches, which have ripened quickly during a sudden heat wave. This year, many have ripened small. Instead, we load up on cucumbers, red onions, bell peppers and a variety of cheeses.

Early July brings the first of the tomatoes and they are piled high at the stands. Each week, the tomatoes get bigger and bigger and more varieties make a showing. Grape, cherry, beefsteak. Red, yellow, orange. Do I have a plan for these tomatoes? Not really, but I can't resist putting them in a bag. I can plan later.

There’s nothing better than a summer beefsteak sliced thick, set on top of a wheel of mozzarella and a topped with a basil leaf and drizzle of balsamic vinegar. Or the tomatoes get stewed down into a pot of meaty spaghetti sauce that I make sure is big enough to last a few days. Sometimes, I just want something fresh and simple and the tomatoes are diced and tossed with cucumbers and rice wine vinegar for a crunchy salad.

For me, a big tomato lover, the possibilities are bigger than the season.

But there is more. Corn stacks up and I price the ears with a bit of seasonal snobbery, gleeful when I can get one extra ear per dollar. We gorge on sweet cantelopes and giant watermelons with buttery undersides that burst open as soon as my knife splits the surface.

As July begins its slow roll into August, my farmer’s market gluttony continues unabated. There's everything from avocados to zucchinis piling up out there. This is the moment in the season where everything comes in at once and even the farmers seem overwhelmed by their bounty. We snag a giant bag of sweet basil for $1 and revel in the scent all the way home. Within hours, it is pulverized with garlic, toasted pine nuts, garlic and a drizzle of olive oil for a heavenly pesto. It's tossed into a pasta salad and served alongside a pesto goat cheese slathered crostini.

I have to remind myself that the snows and hard freezes aren’t coming here like they were in my former home in Idaho. The seasons will change but local fruits and veggies can be found through the coming months. There’s no need to panic and I have to resist a hoarder's mentality.

There's always tomorrow, and next week, and the next.