The Market is My Touchstone
I’ve been coming to 32nd Street for what seems like forever. Real time? I guess about 15 years.
It’s where I go to shop for cooking ingredients for the week and from June through November, it’s where I pick up my CSA from One Straw Farm and have my weekly catch up session with Joan Norman. When my budget allows, there might be a little extra treat. Life is too short not to do that sometimes. Maybe it’s a handful of stems from John at Locust Point Flowers or a canelés or croissants from La Bohemia Bakery, sometimes a bottle of kombucha from Hex Ferments.
Nine times out of ten I go early, like 7:30 or so and I often see chef John Shields, a good friend of mine, who always greets me so warmly even though we’re both not fully awake yet. I love watching parents with their kids, giving them their first taste of an August peach, and showing them where their food comes from. There’s something really special about buying from the person who grew it or made it, there just is.
For me, a Saturday morning visit to the market feels like a weekly reset. It’s time for myself even if it’s only 30 minutes of shopping for groceries, seeing people, and just to take a breath. No one needs me. I can just wander and shop.
A lot of people are surprised when I tell them that the 32nd Street Farmers Market is year-round. I think that’s one of the things I like the most about it, that and its size. It’s just big enough to be a really productive shopping experience but it still feels small and special.
I look forward to certain produce arriving as you probably do, too. Like when you buy your first bunch of local asparagus of the season and the incredible aroma of fresh, local strawberries. You know that we’re knee deep in summer when you see the tables filled with heirloom tomatoes and piles of Maryland sweet corn and cantaloupes. Then before you know it, you start seeing Brussels sprouts and fall squash and you feel a little chill in the air in the morning — my favorite time of year.
Amy Langrehr is the writer and Instagrammer behind Charm City Cook. She writes about food, drink, cooking and more in her hometown of Baltimore.