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Sunday, August 21, 2011

The Village Market


I see this friendly face nearly every day on my travels through the village. The hands of the clock salute a greeting as they let me know how late I am running on my way to work.



It's the slow route through the village. The speed limit is 25 miles per hour as it snakes through the farms and estates in the old part of town.



But it's the weekend, and the grower's market, so the pace is even slower. Time here seems to be every bit as organic and vital to health as the organic produce.



The market at first resembles nearly every other grower's market that you might visit across the country. And you can almost always rely on blue skies and sunshine.



There are the typical flowers and produce.




















But you won't take many steps before you realize what is different from your garden variety market anywhere else.


Your nose may announce it to you from a mile or two away before you see it for yourself.



It's chili roasting time in the village! You could roast it in your own oven at home. But why bother when you can have the chili roasting man do it for you in record time and with very little fuss?



What starts out like this....





Ends up like this . . . . Ready for peeling and bagging.




That's where at least some of those tears come from!


Many varieties of chilies are available here.





And in many forms. You have to look a bit closer at these charming pots of jam . . .



to see that they all contain green chili!


New Mexico Hatch Chili is available at Trader Joe's and some specialty food stores now. Ex pat New Mexicans rely on it. If you want to try a couple of basic recipes, I'm including one for a sauce and another for a cold relish salsa that we eat with plain corn chips (like Doritos). A little goes a long way, especially if you aren't used to hot peppers!
















When green chili is hung and dried outdoors it turns red. It's then flaked or ground into powder and has a decidedly different flavor. Both red and green chili are highly addictive.



Bound local white sage used as a purifying incense.



I was told that these gourd looking vegetables are actually a cucumber variety. Do you know them? 








Cactus anyone?




Do you include red peppers in your dried flower arrangements?


Thanks for coming along to our village market!
I hope you enjoyed the tour!
Ciao! for now!

Jacqueline


Join me at Yvonne's
On the Menu Monday


18 comments:

  1. My sister used to live in NM and I remember the red peppers everywhere. Love the Blood Sweat and Tears Farm! Dianne

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  2. What a great market...so many interesting things to be found there! Those baskets of big peaches made my mouth water....and the thought of lemon lavender cake!

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  3. WOW how I'd love to visit that market! Great pics.
    'hugs from afar'

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  4. Amazing what a summer's worth of sunshine and soft rain can do... The SunFlowers are GoRgeOus and I sure wouldn't mind some "yummy Lavender loaves"... As for always counting on blue skies & sunshine ~ lucky YOU... ~ You never know what you're going to get here in Wisconsin!!!
    Jeanine, ChiPPy!-SHaBBy!

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  5. Everything looks so wonderful at your farmers market. We have one in our town and I haven't been there this year-- just too hot.

    Hope you have a great week!

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  6. Hi J,
    Well you have made me seriously jealous!! You have a fantastic farmers market, ours are always lacking:-( The commercialism always overrides the freshness and handcrafted, sad to say!! But yours is a total experience!! and FRESH Okra, I am jealous right there! Yummy on all the peppers too... just beautiful, I am really enjoying seeing your day to day life and scenery!!!
    Hugs & eat something yummy for me:-)
    Bella

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  7. What a wonderful tour. Beautiful photos.

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  8. This is a fantastic market! I would have my bags filled...there isn't a vegetable I don't like! Most of our markets end on Labor Day, but for the farmstands {thank goodness}. Your village is very charming, too, how lucky you are!

    XO,
    Jane

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  9. farmer's markets are the best. i hope they never disappear. i loved the dried artichokes and the floral wreaths. we must keep these traditions alive, only through them will life be kept REAL. thank you for sharing your impressions.

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  10. Oh my Jacqueline! You have done it again!!! Made me so homesick! And I'll have to show this post to Steve---his mouth will water, for sure. My mom, bless her heart, would pack us up huge boxes of green chilis and mail to us. Then we'd roast them in the house---and open all the windows. A fragrance like no other!! Later, whenever I would visit Albuquerque, I'd always have to pack some or mail some back home, and also buy a certain kind of salsa he loves, that we can't get here in the NW. It's been a while since he's made his fabulous green chili burritos. Sounds so yummy! Your photos are so beautiful! What a wonderful farmers market. Thanks for sharing! Kay

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  11. Wonderful post, bursting with lusciousness! I'm across the pond here so didn't recognise some things like the round cucumbers, white satin carrots like young parsnips and what look like pear-shaped tomatoes?! An early Harvest Festival!
    The Time Sculptor

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  12. What a lovely tour of your market! I enjoyed it very much. We have a farmer's market in the city every Saturday morning and hope to go when our daughter is home. I never seem to get in there to shop for fresh produce as sometimes vendors set up along the road near our home and I don't have as far to go. Beautiful photos of some different foods than we have here. Pamela

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  13. What a glorious market! My hubby would be in chili pepper heaven there.
    Blessings~

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  14. What a great market..would love to get some of the lemon lavendar bread! looks yummy..

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  15. Looks like a great adventure for a weekend morning. So many wonderful things to purchase.
    Angela and Renee

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  16. Thank you for this market tour, my mouth was watering with those green roasted chiles, we go to Colorado just for that every fall, the smell in the air is indescribable.
    Have a lovely week!
    XXX Ido

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  17. That market looks amazing! I have never seen so many yummy looking goodies. You are so lucky to have this so close to you!

    Best wishes,
    Natasha.

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