Farmers’ Row at the Riverside Arts Market (RAM) makes me feel good about my weekend, and my week’s worth of veggies. While RAM has always had produce, the recently dubbed “Farmers’ Row” has been making waves by making sure 100% of its produce is local.
While Publix is a staple, it’s nice to know that there are places in town like Farmers’ Row and the Beaches Green Market that do the work of locating local neighborhood farmers for you. RAM recognized the need to deliver on their promise of “local produce” and recently hired Katie Delaney, the force behind Farmers’ Row. Katie makes regular farm visits and connects with the farmers, making sure that all the produce available at Farmers’ Row is coming from exactly where the farmers say it is, providing the best our region has to offer.
Katie approached us with a challenge in honor of National Farmers Week and asked us to come check out the market, and of course we said we’d be delighted. The challenge, you ask? To see how much groceries we could get with the $30 budget Katie gave us. I’ll be honest, we were pretty excited. We love cooking and eating, and showcasing local goods made us even happier.
We arrived a little after 10, right as the arts market opened, wanting to get there early for our selections. As we walked up and down the aisle, getting a sense of what the farmers had to offer, Becky (or Rebecca, or whatever you feel like calling her) said she makes a mean Eggplant Parmigiana, and I basically shouted my agreement. I love eggplant parm. So we made a quick list, with eggplant and tomatoes for a homemade sauce at the top of our list. We purchased five eggplants for $1 each, two buckets of tomatoes at $4 each, and eggs for the breading at $3/dozen, bringing our total to $16.00.
When Becky said we’d need basil for the sauce, we were standing right in front of Maggie’s Herb Farm with a sign that said “2 herb plants for $5.” We won’t ignore a sign when it happens, so we immediately grabbed a basil and a rosemary plant. I’m not sure how many of you have purchased a packet of fresh basil from the grocery store, but it’s about the same amount, and I seem to waste half the package. Since it’s fresh cut, it dies pretty quickly. It’s been a week, and both our plants are still alive!
We also decided to splurge on a treat for dessert. We chose Glades Ridge Dairy goat cheese truffles. Trust us. They taste way better than they sound!
After the herbs, the truffles, and a water bottle, our total for the day was $28, with $2 left. Being the pickle lovers we are, we knew we could each get 4 pickles for $2, so our last purchase of the day was some tasty pickles from Olive My Pickle!
The next day we started cooking, and let me tell you, those five eggplants made 4 trays of eggplant parm. That’s right: FOUR. With four people, we finished off a tray-and-a-half, leaving us plenty of leftovers for the week. (Yeah, like they really lasted the whole week.) While we did supplement the recipe with some panko breadcrumbs and mozzarella cheese, as well as some bread (and wine) for a hearty Italian meal, our main items were available at the market. While we chose to go the veggie route, Farmer’s Row does have meat if you are feeling more carnivorous!
Brentley Stead 