I got off to a late start once again. Since I moved house and no longer have my two male neighbours also going to the market, 5:00 am seems a little daunting, but hey 6 o’clocks not too bad. It’s just that everybody and their mother is there already. It’s nice driving on the empty roads in the early morning listening to oldies on RJR. I’ve even developed options for getting to Coronation Market now; I can drive via Marcus Garvey which is under some major work or Waltham Park Road onto Spanish Town Road among others.
Okay, by the time I arrive it’s seriously crowded; not many near parking options but the ‘parking don’ steers me into a space on the side of the road across from the entrance or the back gate. I have no idea which. By the way we’re on Darling Street. I discovered this at Christmas when he gave me a calendar compliments of the Darling Street Parking ______; I forgot. It wasn't quite the thing I would put up, so I'll let you know the rest if I find it. Actually it only had a photo of a fast, fancy car at night. Not too bad if you think about it.
Buying Fruit
So I park the car and come out with one of my market bags। I decide to leave the basket in the car. I go first to the section inside of the building where I normally buy oranges and papayas (papaws). I saw some oranges that were not so hot and said yes to the large ones @ $150 per dozen; big mistake listening to the lady tell me how sweet they were and not to watch the colour.
I stayed clear of the papaya lady as I had bought some in MegaMart the day before and the ones in the market are sometimes not as good since the last hurricane, but they’ve been selling at about $50/lb। You just need to choose them carefully. I guess I haven't been choosing the right ones.
Back on the outside I move up the entry section to my carrot and cucumber ladies. I was looking for cucumbers for juicing. I still had carrots in my fridge from some weeks ago. They didn’t have any cucumbers so I moved on. When I eventually found some I paid $30/lb. Not bad.
In Search of Jimbelin
After going back to the car to get rid of my first set of purchases I enter through the second gateway। I’m looking for the lady who I bougt jimbelin from about three weeks ago. It was a long shot but I found her. Of course she didn’t have any more. This is old time jimbelin, not chinese jimbelin which the Americans call star fruit. It’s a small green fruit, the size of a cherry that is very sour. My helper called it ‘barge’. I made drink with it and everybody loved it so I was hoping to get some more. That’s one of the things I do, make natural juice and drink with local fruits and vegetables.
I didn’t find any jimbelin but I did buy some chinese jimbelin. It’s apparently just coming in so only a few people had at $60/dozen. These were the sour ones to make juice. No one had any sweet ones. Based on what the people in the market tell me I assume there is a sour type and a sweet type that grows on two different trees. Let me know if you know otherwise.
I also bought passion fruit. These were $100/dozen because again only a few people had them but it was worth it। The juice is very potent so a little goes a long way and you can freeze it for months. I managed to get some small otaheite apples @ $100/dozen. This was not bad. The large ones sometimes sell for $300/dozen.
Plums Galore
There were quite a few plums in the market; you know the ones that the guys sell on Trafalgar & Waterlooo Roads. They’re mostly red and you have the larger yellow ones which can be very juicy. I went a little overboard, everytime I saw some I’d buy a dozen or two especially if the price was less than the previous seller. I ended up with three bags ranging in price from $30/dozen - $50/dozen.
Mangoes & More Mangoes
Mangoes were in season, from small black mangoes to large Tommy Atkins and lots of others in between. Last time I bought some 'Julies' (julie mango) which are probably my favourite but this week I decided to purchase some beef mangoes. For some reason I always think in terms of dozens at the market so they’re fast getting soft as I can eat so much and no more. My sister says she doesn’t like them, that I should have bought black mangoes for her. Next time!
Yam & Vegetables
You might think I only buy fruit, but no, I bought some yellow yam @ $70/lb. I thought this was high but this is because sometimes it’s so plentiful that they’re literally giving it away at $20. This was clearly not one of those days. I bought a piece for my neighbour and hopefully I’ll make some soup with my piece along with the pumpkin that I also bought. I bought lettuce, tomatoes and sweet peppers for my sister who is supposedly going vegetarian; emphasis on suppose. The small 'salad' tomatoes were $50/lb. and the others I don't remember. My brain is like a seive.
Avocado Pear
Guess what. I bought a pear, an avocado pear that is. I saw this one lady with some. They were mostly already ripe but I got a not so ripe one for $100. I didn't mind as this was a bonus (brawta) as I didn't even know they were available yet. I love pear. Wish I could eat it at every meal. I actually had a tree at my last house. I felt very sad about leaving it behind but I've planted one in my new yard. Hopefully I'll be around to see it bloom.
Time To Go Home
I’ve been here a while and the sun is getting hot not to mention it also rained. I hate it when it rains at the market; it gets muddy and I hate walking in mud. You have to wear your old shoes if you want to try it. I braved a bit of the mud and the rain to finish my shopping. Of course I had to get some coconut water. I brought my containers so I wouldn’t have to try cutting off the tops at home. You can imagine I’m not very handy with a machete. These days I buy coconut from a gentleman from St. Thomas. He usually treats me very well. I would buy three for $90.00 This time I paid $160.00 for four. I wont complain, maybe it was time to increase his prices. I didn’t ask. Everyday is not Christmas.
Of course I had to buy some more oranges to supplement the ugly dozen.
This time I made sure to get orange ones at $100.00 /dozen. A hand of ripe bananas later at the same price and I was ready to go. I’d made many trips to the car and I was tired. All in all it had been a fruitful morning. The parking don was down the road and didn’t see as I drove off with my $50 parking fee. Maybe I’ll pay him next week; we’ll see. I just don’t think I should be paying to park on the side of the road, so if I can dodge it sometimes I don’t feel so bad. Of course they have occasionally asissted me with a heavy bag, so I wont complain too much. Chivalry is not totally dead. I really want to ask him if the money goes to some worthwhile community project, but I haven’t gotten up the courage.
Next week we’ll do it again all being well.
LMWorks
lm works ... in more ways
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