Tuscaloosa's Farmers Market

Tuscaloosa has several spots for fresh, local fruits, veggies, plants, and even meat. This past Saturday, I ventured to the new River Market on Jack Warner Parkway for about the third time. By far, this was the best visit. I grabbed lots of yummy goodies and thought I would share some of the things I bought and what I made. The market is open on Tuesday and Saturdays from 7-noon. I will suggest you get there early for the best selection. We arrived before 9:00 and already some of the vendors were out of some items.

Stage area where Matt Jones was setting up  to perform some live music.

One of the biggest vendors at the market is Snow's Bend Farm. They always seem to have a large variety and they are a name I recognize as having had fresh produce in the area for years now. From this stand, I bought eggplant and a yellow and red pepper. My mom bought some rattlesnake beans. I loved the pictures of this produce.

 

Snow's Bend Farm stand

I also bought some squash from a former student, some banana peppers from a member of my church, some Chilton County peaches and some tomatoes, cucumbers, and blueberries from three other vendors. All said I purchased fruit and veggies from 7 different growers and all of it has been delicious. And it's a great feeling thinking about the "naturalness" of the food I am eating and supporting local growers. And, this week it was an added bonus I got to buy from a few people I knew.

All of my purchases

This means Wes and I had a great meal Sunday night! I made chicken kabobs with the peppers and a squash. And we also grilled the eggplant with some balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Then, I fried the squash, cut the cucumbers and soaked them in vinegar, sliced tomatoes and made a blueberry crisp.

Finished product

Blueberry Crisp

If you haven't visited the market yet, you should! The new venue is gorgeous and the experience is great. The last time I went I bought sausage from the pork man and ground sirloin from the beef guy. We made some burgers with the ground beef and it felt great to have meat that wasn't over processed with who knows what in it. Wes and I don't eat a lot of ground beef, we have switched to more turkey, but when Wes was patting out the burgers, he could tell a big difference in the quality. I will certainly be going back as much as possible.

Tuesday in T-town

The new farmer's market on Jack Warner Parkway has opened! If you haven't been by it, it is a beautiful facility. It is open Tuesday and Saturday from 7a-noon. I hadn't been yet, but I had really been wanting to go. So, yesterday morning I stopped by to see what was there. I was expecting fewer vendors and a smaller crowd because it was Tuesday. And, it seems still a little early for a lot of produce. I can't wait until June with the good tomatoes start coming and the yummy fruit. According to the director, there are more vendors on Saturday and still room for more to come.
Here is a little about what I saw, and what I hear is there on Saturdays. I bought some fresh spinach and sweet potato butter from one of the men. He also had onions, collard greens, chow chow and relishes. There was a lady with homemade jellies and fried pies that looked delicious! A guy was there with pork products and a guy with pottery. Christy said that on Saturday there are more produce vendors, a man with black angus beef, plants, and more. I can't wait to stop back by this weekend on my way to the Dragon Boat Race.


Then, last night I went to the Documenting Justice film screening. This is a class at UA that has students from all different majors who come together to make 10 minute documentary films on something happening in Alabama. Here is a link to the article about it. These students did a fantastic job. Topics ranged from tornado relief in Tuscaloosa, to immigration, to schools in the black belt. I was really drawn in to several of them and felt like they could have been at least twice as long so I could hear more about the stories. This event was at the Bama Theatre, which is by far one of the greatest venues in Tuscaloosa.
This event only happens once a year, so you will have to wait a while if this sounds like something you would enjoy. But, it is just proof of the cool things being done here in town. And, just how lucky we are to have UA and the things that come along with that. This is certainly a chance to see just want the students here can bring to the table.

Weekend of excitement

This was a great weekend in Tuscaloosa. The weather was perfect, there were things happening, and we got to hang out with several friends. I already mentioned the wine tasting and the dinner we had at Five, so I am jumping right to Saturday. I decided to put these all in one post because while we had fun at all the places we went, none had quite enough to talk about alone.

We started Saturday at Tree House Farm and Nursery for their garden expo. Coach Pat Dye was speaking at 10:00 about Japanese Maple Trees and of course, that caught Wes' attention. I really enjoyed hearing him talk about the trees and the way he has come to love them.  After coaching at Auburn, he started a small nursery at his home and now it has grown into quite the Japanese Maple farm.  He taught us how to prune the trees. After the talk, we looked around at all the great plants they have. If you are looking for trees or bushes this is the place to go! We bought one of Coach Dye's trees for Wes' aunt and uncle.

Coach Dye pruning his trees.

The baby Japanese Maple we bought.

After Treehouse, we went downtown to see what was going on with the Tour de Tuscaloosa and the Druid City Arts Festival. We had lunch at Depalma's. This is my favorite restaurant in town and some of my favorite Italian anywhere. I will make a whole post about this one sometime, but just quickly, the food has always been good, the service is good, and the atmosphere is really cool. There is always a mix of people, from college students, to young couples, to business people at lunch during the week. This visit I had the Mediterranean pasta with chicken. It is one of the lighter pastas, with less sauce but lots of flavor from the greek olives, peperoncini peppers and feta cheese.

We walked around downtown for a bit following lunch and made our way over to the Druid City Arts Festival. This art show is put on by a group on campus. I saw an article yesterday that it might be the last year as some of the founders of the event are graduating, but I hope they figure out a way to keep it going.  There was quite a variety of vendors and artists set up in the government plaza, the green space behind the city hall. Bands were playing music throughout the afternoon. One of my friends, Rebecca, had her Little Bee Design tent set up with her punny art! And, we walked around and saw jewelery, paintings, and knitting a lot of the other tents.

The Junior League of Tuscaloosa was hosting a wine and beer tasting at The Alcove, so we walked over there after we finished at the festival. The Alcove is a really cool spot in town with lots of beer selection, on tap and in bottles, and the home of the 2 oz drinks. They have some patio areas and have expanded what used to be a very small area inside. The crowd is an older crowd and is usually more laid back.  This event had the bar pretty crowded but it was a fun event and we enjoyed the tasting. I always recommend The Alcove for non college students looking for a cool place to have a drink, and we enjoyed sitting out back on the patio with some friends.