- Author: Deena Miller
Though it feels like the Farmers Markets of Nevada County have long since finished, a short drive down the hill into Placer County there is a year round market with bushels of beautiful winter vegetables. The Auburn market in the Old Town Courthouse Parking Lot is open every Saturday, 8 AM until noon.
Jim of Jim's Produce from Wheatland is still attending the market rocking his signature bowtie and offering a dozen different vegetables, from storage crops like sweet potatoes to crunchy winter lettuce. Jim and other farmers have the sweetest carrots of the year due to a phenomenon called “cold-sweetening” which causes the plant to store sugars in a more readily available form, and therefore less susceptible to freezing. If you are craving food fresh from the fields, it is definitely worth the trip to Auburn.
Other crops that were sighted last Saturday: an abundance of citrus of all kinds including Satsuma, Pixie, and Murcott mandarins, Washington and other navel oranges, Moro blood oranges, Meyer and Lisbon lemons, Oro Blanco and Rio Red grapefruit, Miewa kumquats, Minneola tangelos, and the exotic mandarinquat! There are other winter fruits available as well: apples (Pink Lady, Granny Smith, Fuji) and kiwi. A huge selection of vegetables are coming out of our local farm fields: Brussels sprouts, cabbage, lettuce, leeks, beets, daikon, sweet potatoes, winter squash, kale, collards, parsley, radicchio, watermelon radishes, radishes, turnips, rutabagas, broccoli, tatsoi, bok choi, potatoes, gai lan (Chinese sprouting broccoli), arugula, cilantro, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and more. You can also pick-up dried fruit, sprouts, and olive oil this time of year.
Never had kohlrabi or a kumquat? Since you are buying directly from the growers, they can often give you a few ideas about how to enjoy this unknown produce. Kohlrabi was the most asked about vegetable at the Sweet Roots Farm market stand. Shaped like a spaceship, and sometimes a vibrant purple, it is botanically the same species as broccoli, but selected for its enlarged stem instead of flowers - broccoli florets. Peel the tough outer skin, then eat it raw with dips, grate it like a carrot in slaws, substitute it for jicama. You can also use it like a broccoli stem in stir-fries or soups, or roast kohlrabi sticks with garlic and parmesan cheese. Don't forget to use the greens, you can use them the same as you would use kale.
Check out this easy Citrus Cabbage Slaw recipe, and don't be shy about adding kohlrabi. You could also substitute Brussels sprouts since they are essentially mini cabbages, just be careful when shredding!
Eating locally in the winter can take a little more effort and cooperation, particularly if you don't have a farmers' market in your neighborhood. Share a ride to the market or offer to pick up produce for your neighbors. Also, make sure to purchase both fresh and storage crops, and your trip to the winter farmers' market will feed you great produce for weeks. Adventuring out to a year-round farmers' market will be well worth your time- the flavors of winter are delicious!