Farm Weeks: Harrisonburg Farmer's Market

My last adventure in Farm Weeks was not really going to a farm, but going to a Farmer’s Market.  I had always heard great things about the Farmer’s Market in Downtown Harrisonburg, but had just not made it over there yet.  I have no good excuse because it runs Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, so I should have gotten by a long time ago. 

It is quite an event going to the Harrisonburg Farmer’s Market.  There are arts and crafts, things to eat now and things to eat later, salty and sweet, healthy and decadent, cheeses and meats, and lots and lots of baked goods both grainy and fluffy. 

Here are several pictures to show you the Market's cornucopia of plenty: 

For my visit, I picked up a cheddar cauliflower, baby zucchini and yellow squash, some tomatoes that reject the usual guise of red, white yams, and a red onion. 

The zucchini and squash were sautéed with butter and white wine.  The tomatoes ended up eaten on their own with salt and thrown raw in with some whole wheat pasta and Asiago cheese.  

The cauliflower, white yams, and onion were mixed with celery, an apple, white lentils, vegetable broth, spices (salt, celery seeds, thyme, pepper, and dried peppers), chamomile tea, white wine, and Greek yogurt. 

 I’ve never tried cooking soup with chamomile, but thought it worked well as a complimentary note to the celery, apples, and cheddar cauliflower (which has sweetness to it).  Then, the lentils and yams gave it nice body.  For the finale, I pureed it with a hand blender and smoothed it out with the yogurt. 

Farm Weeks: White Oak Lavender Farm

By chance, my last couple of food adventures have taken me to several farms.  So, I lumped them together and will over this week and next, write to you all about adventures with produce, animals, and the scenic countrysides. 

White Oak Lavender Farm

Over the summer, my friend Ellie told me about a visit she had made to a lavender farm in Harrisonburg, VA.  In hearing about the visit, I conjured up an image of rows of purple flowers and the aromatic sweet scent of lavender wafting in the air.  Given that the farm is on the same exit as where I live, it is sad how long it took me to finally make the trip over.  But finally, a couple of weekends ago, I went to explore the serenity scented White Oak Lavender Farm. 

Although tours are offered on Saturdays, Ellie and I opted out.  She had already been on the tour and I was happy to let hear give me the background.  The farm is named after the abundance of White Oaks that were on the property before the Civil War.  The property itself was used as a Union Camp and is near were the Battle of Cross Keys was fought.  The trees were cut down and now the owners, Julie and Rick Haushalter, have replanted white oaks to help bring them back to the property. 

The farm not only houses fields of woody lavender in which you can pick-your-own during the summer, White Oak is home to several rescue animals.  Horses, goats, alpacas, ducks, and chickens have made a pleasant life for themselves.   There is even a “Rabitat” in which kids can enter and pet Beau and Nilla, the Giant Flemish rabbits, whose size, true to the name, are something to see.  I wonder what Alice would have said if she had come across them.   

White Oak is also trying to develop a serenity centered respite.  At one end of the field, is a calm reflection area with benches surrounding a vivid and colorful stain glass window of a dove.  Also, in other areas is a small pond with benches for you to sit in calm enjoyment.  White Oak also provides workshops designed to restore tranquility and healing to your life. 

Once you finish wondering the grounds, there is a shop where you can get lots of lavender products.  There are soaps, skin care, hair care, etc.  For the chefs, you can buy several lavender centered cooking products: lavender sugar, lavender honey, and culinary lavender.  If you are not sure what to cook with the lavender, there are bowls that come with recipes and there are also small recipe books.  The item that intrigued me the most was a grinder with pepper and lavender blossoms.   I’m not sure what you would do with that, but I’m intrigued none the less.    

So come, relax, inhale, pet animals, meditate, and take some lavender home with you.  A back seat with a lavender plant, various soaps, and dried buds for baking, might just be the most calming car trip of your life.