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Something different called to me from each farmer's market stand this evening. Although one stand was overflowing with buckets of flowers, it was the cartons of lovely tomatoes that served as the centerpiece that caught my eye.
"Are you planning to make bacon-lettuce-tomato sandwiches?" the farmer asked. "Don't really have a plan for them yet," I said. "But they looked so good that I couldn't walk by and pass them up." He nodded, a twinkle in his eye. "They're the first of the season," he said. "I've been out there every night, talking to them, trying to get them to ripen up." It was my first visit to the FreshFarm Farmer's Market in Penn Quarter. Located at the north end of 8th Street, NW between D and E Streets NW, the Penn Quarter market will be open from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Thursdays through October 30, 2003. The market is tucked in a shady block very near the Archives-Navy Memorial station (Yellow and Green lines) and the Gallery Place-Chinatown station (Yellow, Green and Red lines) on the Metro system. Most of the producers selling at the market had a variety of fruits and vegetables for sale, but Mount Harmony was selling their fresh herbal soaps at one stand, and at another, I was able to pick up a "Virginia Kobe" top sirloin and could have bought some free range, organic eggs. Among my purchases was brilliantly-colored yellow and red chard, red and yellow cherry tomatoes, organic basil, baby zucchinis, and tiny, delicate eggplants that the seller described as "perfect for grilling, roasting or sauteing." I tore myself away from the market when I had almost more than I could carry...or eat. That's one of the drawbacks of the farmer's market—the produce is so beautiful that I tend to buy more than I need. But I always tell myself I'm supporting local agriculture, so that makes it OK. And hey, there's nothing wrong with eating lots of fresh vegetables. After carrying my bags of produce home, I set them on the counter. My plan was to put everything away, but I found myself eating handfuls of cherry tomatoes right out of the bag—they tasted as sun-warmed as the ones used to off my grandmother's plants outside her Baltimore house. And one of the tomatoes didn't last long enough for sandwich consideration—sliced and sprinkled with kosher salt, it served as the perfect dinner salad. Go To Page: 1
The copyright of the article Getting Fresh at the Penn Quarter Farmer's Market in Washington, D.C. is owned by Eugenia E. Gratto. Permission to republish Getting Fresh at the Penn Quarter Farmer's Market in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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