Farmer's Market

Every town has its farmer's markets, but Santa Fe seems inordinately proud of its market at the railyard downtown. It's held all year long, every Saturday of the year, even in winter.

We've been going on Saturday mornings since mid September.

The market really is phenomenal. It's huge, with stalls up and down the platform that borders the railroad tracks, and more vendors inside a big warehouse and art tents too, with some really nice art for sale, not just crafts or trinkets.

The Railrunner train chugs into the platform and lets dozens of people off right at the market. It's sort of European, what with all the wandering shoppers, the stalls full of color and a train running through it.

Every farmer is local, some are organic, and all the produce looks so good. I miss the variety of apples and the acorn squash and cider we'd be buying at home in the fall, but the peppers and dahlias and lavender posies make up for that.

The aroma of roasting peppers is always in the air, and mixed with a cool breeze, it's refreshing. Not spicy, just subtle.

It truly is an experience. There's a festival air, with musicians playing for change on every corner and a guy who trucks his piano in on a dolly and pounds out thundering anthems. Once there was a collection of drums set up and kids were encouraged to bang on them and the rhythms were surprisingly good.

We typically buy familiar things like peaches and carrots and garlic and an onion and a tomato and red apples. And dahlias, because . . . orange.

But we're also buying things like poblano peppers and Jim is going to learn to cook with them -- maybe even dried ancho or rellenos eventually, but for now chicken simmered with poblanos.

Each Saturday morning since the first foray to the farmer's market, we've been trying a new thing or two -- some strange watermelon-like tiny squashes this last time, and one week we bought a sheepskin rug from a local sheep farmer. It's small (they're reeeally expensive), but perfect for our guest bathroom.

Going to the farmer's market has become our Saturday morning routine now, and its a great way to start each weekend.