Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Unexpected Bounty

Justine and I went off late this afternoon to one of the several farmer's markets in the area.  With a little traveling, there is a market every day of the week nearby so there are no excuses. Today's is one of my least favorite as it is held in the parking lot of one of the area malls (but I don't want to do the downtown market tomorrow on the holiday).  It was miserably hot!
A bank thermometer we drove by on the way registered 99 degrees and all that pavement reflected even more heat.  But we were on a quest for sweet corn- our first of the season.  We decided a few years ago that is just isn't worth our time, effort and space to grow sweet corn.  It is so readily available around here and with such wonderful quality that I don't bother fighting the raccoons for it in the garden.
So, we walked the market and purchased a dozen ears from a vendor who had the best price.  As we continued, we struck up a conversation with another vendor who was trying to sell us more corn.  She was asking a dollar more for 14 ears (as opposed to the 13 we already had) but then she uttered those fatal words... "If you buy a whole bag I'll cut you a really good deal"  The whole bag she was talking about was an entire gunny sack of corn- you know, those bags that would hold a small child.  And she was only asking $20, bag and all.   With the heat there weren't as many customers as usual so she was worried about getting rid of what she had.  So, guess what I've been doing!?
 Midway through processing it I remembered to take photos.
 I've had a lot of sweet corn in my day.  Let me tell you- this ranks up there with some of the best.  And it's still really early in the season.
Corn in the freezer already.  I'm liking this. Plus, we changed gears for dinner this evening and are grilling so we can have corn on the cob.  It won't get any better than it is now.  Mmmm....

18 comments:

  1. Great deal! And yum... corn. :)

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    1. I was really surprised and happy about this. Not that I had plans to freeze corn today but how could I pass up a deal like that!

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  2. Envious, envious! That's one thing we sure can't grow in any amount up here. Back in Illinois, of course, we always planted plenty of it and it was our favorite frozen veggie in the winter time. We don't even have the opportunity of purchasing it much up here so we never have it in the freezer. Our organic co-op gets some in that is usually pretty good but it's pricey and wouldn't be feasible to purchase enough for freezing.

    Yours looks wonderful! Yum!

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    1. We are in the middle of corn heaven here. If I wanted to grow it, I'd have to mess with an electric fence to keep out the raccoons and that is waaaay more trouble than I want to go through. My parents didn't plant corn for the first time in forever for just that reason. It is so much easier to get it from the people who are growing it 'for real' than to mess with a little patch in the garden.

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    1. I struck a deal last year with a vendor for bulk amounts of corn. If you're buying 5 dozen or more ears they will usually strike a bargain. Just ask!

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  4. WOW!!!! I've really got to start asking the vendors if there's anything they want to get "rid" of right before they close at a discount. What a great way to stock up on some somebody-else's-homegrown goodies!

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    1. The funny thing is- there was still plenty of time left in the market. It was just so, so hot that there were very few buyers out and about. This was only one of 6 or 7 other bags she had there. And at her usual price of $6 for 14 ears she probably wasn't doing too bad. I can't imagine many people are willing to take her up on the deal!

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  5. What a lucky day you had!! We love the yellow/white corn. I could have corn on the cob every night for dinner - just love it...course I'd look like a cow...debbie

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    1. I love corn on the cob! I do like corn in the winter as well but we don't seem to eat it as much as some other veggies- but it is still a staple here.

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    1. I was thrilled! I think sometime it's all in the timing- and weather you are willing to ask...

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  7. great deal and yes I'll join in and chime I'm sooooo jealous ,have a good 4th of July

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    1. Freezing corn wasn't exactly what I had planned for my afternoon- but it was so worth it!

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  8. I'm with you, it just doesn't pay to mess with that stuff when small patches of corn just don't pollinate properly. Great find! The only thing preventing me from getting my own bag has been the heat, but now after seeing this I need to just deal with it and get out there and get my corn to stash away :)

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  9. It looks fantastic:) I just took my blog private but can't find your email to add you. If you would like to be added then let me know at my email moratribe at gmail dot com. I would love to have you join.

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    1. Correction on the email: Morantribe
      The rest is the same

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