For those that missed it, the Boulder Farmers Market opened this past Saturday.  The turnout from both the farmers and the customers was a bit smaller than usual, likely due to the anticipated Blizzard That Wasn’t (at least in Boulder anyway), but people were in good spirits and the bounty was still pretty large.  Getting back to the market is like visiting old friends, and starting the day with a fresh, hot cup of Silver Canyon coffee and a breakfast burrito smothered in vegetarian green chile kept me toasty warm inside while I spent the rest of my morning catching up and shopping.  I left very happy with some tasty sausages from Silva’s Highlands Beef, Hazel Dell mushrooms, a nice Bookcliff wine, an Oxford Garden salad, and even some Seth Ellis chocolates, to name a few of my day’s “prizes.”  Not a bad start to the ’09 season at all.

Having weekly access to locally produced fresh food for the next nine months is one of the best parts of living here in Colorado. I was able to stretch my goodies from my winter CSA right to last week (actually, I still have a few squash and onions left!), so for the most part, I’ve been able to eat locally grown food for a full year, a personal goal of mine (I did cheat and bought two green peppers over the winter.).  It actually has been much easier than I thought it would be, and much more rewarding.  As I did last year, I plan on making more jam, but I also plan to expand what I preserve by freezing some veggies and making my own ketchup and tomato sauce.  There was nothing quite like opening a jar of my own homemade peach jam in the dead of winter, and I can’t wait to start making more.  This Saturday’s weather forecast: 60 degrees and isolated showers.  Personal forecast: 8:00 a.m. breakfast at the Farmers Market, rain or shine!