Thursday Morning at Coronation Market

The start of the new year (2010) is as good a time as any to restart my blog. I've been going downtown to the market fairly regularly this past year; sometimes on Thursday or Friday when I can't make the regular Saturday morning. Thursday is a good day to go as it's the weekday when the country trucks come in with fresh produce. Persons who buy in bulk usually shop on a Thursday and regular shoppers like myself can sometimes get better prices if you find the right sellers and not just the ones who have bought to sell.

The 7:00 AM newscast was on the radio when I arrived, so it was still early enough not to be too hot. I advocate going in the cool of the morning, 5:30 - 6:00 AM, depending on how dark it is; that way you won't feel as if you've done a days work if you have to do a bit of walking. Also, if it's safe to do so you could wind down your windows and get some fresh air instead of turing on the A/C as you drive. This is one method to conserve a little of that precious fuel that got more expensive on January 1, 2010 when the government's latest tax package rolled out (or did it roll us over). It's no coincidence that I've decided to visit the market more often. I figure the prices downtown will be much better than the ones in the supermarket even without the added GCT (general consumption tax). The savings might help me pay for the increased GCT on all the other goods & services, but I doubt it.

There was a fair amount of vendors with a lot of produce at the market today. There was still quite a bit of sorrel available, but then sorrel is available almost the whole year and not just at Christmas time as in the past. There was also a lot of gungo peas, shelled and un-shelled. Carrot was pretty & plentiful @ $50.00/lb. I bought 10 lbs even though I had som at home in the fridge. The plan is to juice it and drink it. Here's to a healthy 2010!

Cucumber was not so plentiful this time. I guess it's in its off season. Cabbage was fairly plentiful. It was costing about $30.00/lb last week. I saw one vendor with some rich purple coloured eggplants unlike the pale green ones I saw last week. I'm thinking about trying them sometime. If you watch enough of the Food Network or go online it shouldn't be too hard to find interesting recipes for some of these vegetables that we're seeing more of locally these days.

Bananas were in good supply. I saw some huge ones but I normally don't go for those humongous ones that cost an arm and a leg. I bought some for $150.00/dozen. They ripen very quickly in this heat so I try to find some that are not totally ripe or have a combination of ripe and green on the bunch. Bananas are good for you; they have potassium.

I bought smaller regular oranges at $100/dozen. Many persons had larger ones as well as ortaniques at higher prices but the small ones are fine for me since we mostly juice them. I use them in my salads as well. Tangerines were plentiful as well. Vendors were mostly asking $150 & $200 per dozen. I still have some from last week so I didn't get any. They make a nice juice but it takes more tangerines than oranges to make a cup of juice. I also got some small grapefruits for less than $100.00. I think this was a real bargain.

Last week I bought some green skinned citrus fruit that I was told was called King Fruit. This was the second time I was seeing these. They look like oranges and they tasted okay so I tried them again. It's always nice to discover something new at the market, especially fruits which I love. I'll add these to my newly discovered fruit listng which also includes governor's plum. These are good; if you ever see them; try them.

Naseberries have begun to come into season. I saw mostly some small unripe ones but one man had some ripe ones which I bought. I'm trying to increase the variety of fruits in my diet so I'm looking out for fruits in season that I don't eat regularly to top up my diet. I paid $150/dozen in comparision to $250 quoted for some unripe ones from another vendor. The price was good but when I got home I realized that they were all very ripe, so they wont last long. Next time I'll be more observant and buy less as we can't eat them all at once and I hate to throw away food. I guess I could share them with someone instead of watching some spoil. Fresh fruits are always a nice gift. I could even share them with my dogs; they need vitamins too. But seriously we sometimes waste a lot of money when we have to throw out stuff. If you find yourself with a lot of spoilt food maybe you're buying too much in the first place. Think about it; in which case you would save by just buying less. I'm going to try that one.

The regular pear (avocado) season has ended but there are some small green thick skinned ones available now that can fill the gap until it's pear time again. I bought several of them because I love pear. I could have a large slice at every meal.
Those and some other avocados that I found, were selling at a price of $50, $60 & $70each. This certainly beats the more than $100 for the same variety in the supermarket any day. My only problem is that they might all ripen at the same time (See solution in previous paragraph). I think we have such fabulous avocados that maybe we should grow more and export them. I think they are much nicer than the California Hass variety which looks like the thick skinned one I mentioned above.

Irish potatoes were plentiful. I bought last week for about $60.00/lb, down from a high of $100 and more last year. I decided not to buy them at that price, so I was having a lot more sweet potatoes which is supposed to be a healthy meal choice. Have you ever had it steamed? It cooks very quickly that way. They were in good supply as well at $50.00/lb.

Papayas, one of my usual staples are not doing well right now. They are very tiny and sick looking; it's almost a waste to buy them but I bought three ripe ones for $70.00/lb thinking of it as a desperate purchase. On my final walk around (you can get good exercise at the market) I saw some regular sized papayas at $80.00/lb. Of course I had to buy some; they were three times the size of the others that everyone else had.

All in all I had a pretty good morning at the market. If I can keep it up for the rest of the year that would be good.
Good Health to you all in 2010 and Happy Market Shopping!

LM Works
4:25 PM