I went exploring at the downtown farmers market on Tuesday, looking for some items I thought were particularly neat, and took a few photos.
Green Family Farms, often identified by their stacks of large artichokes and bunches of asparagus, has a nifty stirfry mix that's the perfect size for 1-2 people, or one generous family meal. Each bag, selling for $5, contains a little bit of asparagus, spring onions, carrots, cauliflower and broccoli florets, nasturtium flowers (colorful and peppery-tasting), napa cabbage, bok choy and yu choy. 
John B. from Yankee Farm, sells bagged lettuces that are different from the rest. His are sold as baby heads, and they stay fresh and crisp longer than loose leaf bags. The four lettuce varieties seen here are:
The bags sell for $2 each, and don't be misled by the abundance of bags in the photo. When I walked by a few minutes later, he was down to just a handful remaining.
Beautiful cucumbers, thanks to the technology of Fast Hydroponics from Oxnard. Much like Lebanese cucumbers, these do not need peeling. Chop them up, put them in a salad (or maybe put a slice in a glass of Pimms? We've got the weather for it right now). They were sold by the basket for $2, smiles were included for free.
I would not have thought there would be squash blossoms available this time of year, but here they are, selling for $2 a bunch. Sadly, this farm did not have a name, so good luck finding them. You can eat the flowers raw in salads, or stuff them with ricotto cheese or queso fresco and lightly batter and fry them. Or you can look at them from afar, then order them already prepared at the Stateside. Your choice.
The most unassuming item here is, imho, the most unique. These are bags of dried sweet potato, selling for $5. They are firm and chewy, and also sweet but not cloyingly so. KNC Gardens sells them, and I have never seen them anywhere else, ever. One friend describes them as eating fluffy clouds. Another thought they were too tough to bite and had to tear them into smaller pieces to eat. I encourage you to judge for yourself.
Mealtime!
On the dinner menu was baguette (Our Daily Bread) with two kinds of cheese, Salvo Cremosco and Bucherondin (C'est Cheese), and pâté (International Market). Thoughts of the Port tasting at Wine Country inspired me to also have a sip of Amaretto and a little bit of Côte d’Or chocolate.
My lunch, let me show it to you.
Rice balls with pickled things, deviled egg and a miniature pear, SPAM musubi (who saw the article about it in the LA Times recently? It was my muse), and cucumber salad made with the cukes from the market.
