Red Stick Farmers Market

Last December I was passing through Baton Rouge en route to the mushroom hunt, and I picked up some outstanding fresh black eyed peas at the Red Stick Farmers Market. I was so impressed with the variety of products available there that I returned last Saturday. Being a bit of a produce fanatic, I really had to hold myself back. We checked out Papa Tom’s stone ground oatmeal, grits, cornmeal, and cayenne pepper (apparently some of the hottest cayenne pepper ever). He encouraged us to sample his delicious broccoli cornbread. Rumor has it that his oatmeal is mind-blowing, so I picked some up.

The market was dominated by plump, red strawberries that looked ready to burst. Winter standards like beets, turnips, greens, and citrus were also widely available. Other highlights included buttery pecans and crisp red Russian kale.



I also picked up some sweet potatoes because as the weather is warming up, I’ve been seeing them less frequently. One shopper, clearly a regular, greeted the sweet potato farmer with, “How y’all doing? I see that you brought your bride today,” referring to his wife. Another woman chimed in, “what do you mean? He ain’t gonna trade her in for no new model.” I thought I should impart these words of wisdom on the blogosphere.

My favorite purchase of the morning was the yellow grape tomatoes. Smooth and bright red and yellow, they were very enticing, but I was afraid that I got carried away, that it was too early in the season for good tomatoes. My fears were put to rest when I sampled one- they were sweet and juicy considering they were grown in February. It made me anticipate summer and inspired me to purchase some vegetable plants of my own at the market. I chose a purple plum and a creole tomato plant, as well as a poblano and a orange bell pepper plant. I look forward to putting them in the ground once we get through this cold snap.