Yesterday morning we finally went to the Temecula Farmer Market. I do not know why we never went before this; I think it is because we thought we would do so when we eventually move to Temecula. Anyway, I am glad we did but sorry I did not have my Nikon SLR camera with me. I took some photos with my iphone.
We were pleasantly surprise at how large the market is. Much bigger and nicer than the Santa Monica. Here are some pictures for you to enjoy.
Mushroom vendor with all kinds of delicious fresh mushrooms. In the background you can see a vendor selling succulents potted up in hanging baskets and various other containers.
I am always on the lookout for new succulent specimens to propagate. No luck today, I have all the types they are selling.
We stopped by this nut and dried fruit vendor and came across the red walnut. It has more antioxidants and is sweeter, less acidic than regular walnuts. They cost $11/ lb versus the regular walnut at $6/lb. The Red Walnut tree takes 8 years before it produces walnut versus the regular walnut tree which produces in 2-3 years. The nuts were so fresh, big and plumb. Bought half a lb of each! Also some dried apricots.
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| Red Walnut, regular Walnut, Almond, Dried Apricot and Dried Tomatoes |
My hands were full of things purchase so I could not take a picture of the tomato store. Will do so the next time. We can never resist heirloom tomatoes. I love how sweet they are. Just sliced, a light dressing and maybe a chiffonade of basil is all it needs to be sublime. Yum!
We bought Cherimoya for my husband and Loquat for me. Both fruits we intend to grow in our garden in Temecula.
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| Cherimoya |
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| Loquat |
Our eyes kept being drawn back to the stall selling Portea flowers. So colorful and beautiful. Encouraged by my husband, I had them make up a $20 bouquet of Sunburst Portea, King Portea and filler flowers.
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| The Magnificent King Portea |
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| My beautiful bouquet of flowers |
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| Fresh Dates for my husband |
There are Dates and what I grew up thinking were Dates. We bought both- the Menjool Dates; real dates from a Date Palm Tree, for my husband.
We also purchased some dried Jujube more commonly known as Red Dates to us, Chinese Malaysia. Look at how fresh, big, juicy, plump these dried Red dates are!! Personally, I love fresh jujube; they are like a crunchy sweet apple. The Jujube or Red Date plant is more like a promegranate plant. The vendor tells me that the fresh jujube will be available in another month or so. I will be back for them. The Jujube is also another plant we plan to have in our Temecula orchard.
Our last purchase for 20 extra large brown organic eggs for $5.30. What a steal! Lots of baking ahead of me :)
I am always on the lookout for new succulent specimens to propagate. No luck today, I have all the types they are selling.
How does Cherimoya taste like? It looks like our Sour Sop. The blooms are big and remind me of the dried flower decorative pieces in shops. What a wonderful place to visit.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, Farmers Market are fabulous places to visit- a treat for the eye, nose and tummy :) It is the American version of Pasar Malam with Farmers selling directly to the consumers. It is hard not to buy everything. The Cherimoya taste more like our Nona or Custard Apple. I planted a Custard Apple tree about 3 years ago but it did not come back after winter.....
ReplyDeleteThe Portea are Australian flowers by way of Africa. I remember them from my childhood in Malaysia, while living in Kuala Kubu Bharu. My plant crazy parents introduced me to more `unusual' plants than I realized. It also awoken memory of a dried flower we had as decoration. It was open blossom, large petals, brown in color, the texture of straw flower. I am going to have to call my mother and ask what it was.
The huge purple Aeonium arboreum (on the floor) is lovely. Too bad I don't see people selling Aeonium arboreum here, probably easy to kill with the high humidity. Fresh loquats are nice
ReplyDeleteWhat a wealth of goodies you've found! Your farmer's market sounds like a fantastic place :)
ReplyDeleteI cant get over the sheer variety of mushrooms and dried fruits on offer. I've never even heard of red walnuts before!
Do you mean the Portea resembles our Helichrysum bracteatum, the strawflower?
ReplyDelete