One of these days I'm going to figure out who you are, since we're apparently shopping at the same vendors at roughly the same time.

Fine with me as long as you don't own a restaurant. :-) EL

I don't know how you'd tell, Jon. The number of people taking pictures of the produce has really ballooned in the past few months.

Can anyone explain why heirlooms are so much expensive? Are the seeds expensive? Does it cost more to grow them? Or are the farmers simply cashing in on the heirloom name? I don't blame them if that's what their doing because I would do the same thing.

Off topic here but I just read an article EL wrote on the 6th about a new New York style deli and she mentions they cook everything house including the corned beef and pastrami. Does that mean they cure their own or buy already cured and just steam it in house?

They cure their own. As for the heirlooms, having grown them for years, I know how persnickety they are. They are susceptible to every bug and disease known to man, and sometimes the plants grow beautifully but you get two tomatoes off them the whole season. I stopped growing heirlooms because no matter how much they cost, it feels like it's cheaper to buy them at the farmers market, or at least less frustrating. EL

Hey... I didn't see you either!

I took some pix of the green zebra tomatoes this morning. Look for pix on my weekly "market report" later today.

Those Cherokee Purples look like mutants. Are they supposed to look like that?

I'm looking forward to coming up in a couple weeks and having some of the tomatoes my Mom and sister are growing.

I was at the viaduct market today as well.

I got regular old tomatoes, and made a killer salsa.

In sad news, there's no more blueberries for the year, and the all-organic stand won't have any more romaine.

In happier news, another stand has started having all sorts of lettuce for $2 a head, and will have it till the end of the summer. Also, Nick's Backfire spices is going to have file powder in the next few weeks- he's going to grind up the sassafras root himself. EXCITED.

EL, as someone from Tennessee, you should know that the best tomatoes come from Grainger County. You can actually get Grainger County tomatoes at the Fresh Market at Quarry Lake. I know it is not exactly eating local, but they are quite good.

Slightly off-topic, but last night as DH and I were eating dinner on the terrace, we saw a squirrel bound across our lawn with a fair-sized tomato in its mouth. Squirrels like tomatoes! Who knew? He looked as if he were wearing those red wax lips.

Also, Nick's Backfire spices is going to have file powder in the next few weeks- he's going to grind up the sassafras root himself.

Oh, boy! Gumbo!!

One vendor was selling heirlooms at $3 a pound this morning. He's the guy who usually concentrates on melons, about midway on the Fallsway side. Unfortunately he lost virtually all his cantaloupe crop this year.
EL. Can you give us a seminar on the varieties of regular tomatoes. I did not know what a tomato should taste like until well into adulthood, but I still can't tell one from another.

Anyone else notice the crazy long line for black-eyed peas and lima beans? It was at the stand with the guy who usually as a truckload of cantelopes.

dcdiva - do you come up here from dc to the farmer's market? if so, that's amazing. i'm 15 minutes away myself, but I usually sleep through the whole thing. i think the farmer's market should be from 12-4 p.m. so you could sleep in, shop, and then proceed directly to happy hour to celebrate your great finds or bemoan $4 tomatoes.

Elite Elephant Lover: curing corned beef is so easy that I no longer buy the commercial stuff -- especially since Deer Creek Beef and Hickory Chance Beef both stock brisket at my Bel Air Saturday market. The web is full of recipes, but the method I typically use is a variation of Julia Child's dry cure. It produces a gray rather than a red product, but it tastes the same -- actually a little less bitter. Pastrami is not much more difficult, providing you are able to find copious quantities of dried juniper berries. Cheers to any local establishment that takes advantage of the control you get by doing it yourself.

dcdiva - People go cuckoo up here for peas/beans/random vegtable by the pound. It's a bit wacky, but he pretty much always has a huge line. Personally, I liked the mini cantaloupes he was offering, and the asparagus earlier in the season, but I wasn't overly fond of his peas this year.

Jon - I'm thinking a fair percentage of the sandbox is actually in attendance under the viaduct relatively early.

We're planning a Baltimore Food Blogger Meet Up at the Downtown Market for September 14th... Even you non-blogging, but EL-commenting types are welcome.

I will post details on my blog in a few days.

Rob in PCB FL, Cherokee Purple looks weird with all those pleats and the big dimple on top, but oh, the taste! It's the very essence of a tomato--juicy and sweet. My favorite way to eat them is on a BLT--the essence of summer between bread slices! Drool!

Bourbon Girl- I am actually a Baltimoron. I commute to work in DC though.

I actually like the market being early. I get up and get there at 7:45, and then wen I get home I have a super long day in wich to cook!

I usually get to the JFX market at 7, since I'm trying to protect my delicate ankles from strollers.

Sleeping in would be lovely, but one must suffer for good tomatoes and peaches.

It does sound like we're all there. I knew Josh was there early (since my friend knows him and mentioned it). We should meet up for coffee or something.

Josh Hall: At about 8, I was standing in the crepe guys line (I recommend the blueberry/strawberry/coconut). I wondered who the rest of the crowd was.

By 8, I was in line for a sausage biscuit next to the crepe stand. Definitely calls for a meetup!!

Can we lurkers come too? Should we have name tags with urls on them?

Thanks for the info Dottie. I guess I'm too used to seeing the perfect tomatoes in stores that are chemically enhanced to get that way.

A new produce stand opened up down the street here, the sign says "All the way from Jaw-Juh". Chilton GA to be exact. I must stop and see what they have.

Pigtown: you can email the info to EL and she (I'm quite sure) would start a new post with the info on it.

Lurkers, commenters, drive by readers... come one, come all! I should have some details on my blog this evening.

Man, them maters look like they were grown next to Peach Bottom or TMI

M D Canon,

Back in southern Illinois when I had big house with two refrigerators,a freezer and a good sized kitchen I made turkey pastrami, duck pastrami, and chicken pastrami. No need to make corned beef because my local meat market made the absolute best. Now that I live in an apartment I look for good cured meats I can purchase. No kitchen space and no refrigerator space.

Ok... here are some details. All suggestions are welcomed.

http://pigtown-pigout.blogspot.com/2008/08/market-meet-up.html

Damn...I'm going to be out of town that day.

Well, Bucky, just let us know when you WILL be in town and we'll have a parade to greet you.

I think I'm in Iceland that day. Which is just as well, as I'd have to come up with another excuse otherwise.

Hope you all have fun.

Maybe we should also have an introverts' meetup. Say, we all agree to go to DC one day, and not meet.

I decided to grow Cherokee Purple this year... and guess what? ONE tomato... and it was rotten.
nice.

Maybe we should also have an introverts' meetup. Say, we all agree to go to DC one day, and not meet.

I'm in for that one.