Shopping Spree!

Now this is my type of shopping spree! My mom was in town yesterday, so she, my sis and I decided to hit up the Farmer's Market for some locally grown, mostly organic and very delectable produce. Here is my loot below:
I got a couple of ears of corn (so good!), yellow carrots, orange baby carrots times 100, a poblano pepper, half of a freaking huge cucumber and some zephyr squash.
These guys were my favorite buy of the day! Look at how cute! Evidently, they are a cross between zucchini and regular yellow squash. I have them on my menu for tomorrow night with a heaping helping of guacanara--I think they'll be perfect!

I also got a bajillion green beans (which are fantastic mixed with some pineapple salsa, by the way).

I especially liked these green beans because they were locally produced and harvested by a special program provided by the county jail. It allows the offenders housed at the facility to learn new marketable skills and develop a positive sense of accomplishment while giving back to the community.

I loved the little tatted up dude who sold them to me. He made me an awesome deal and he seemed so proud of what he had helped create. It totally gave me the warm fuzzies. My mom got the little orange carrots from that stand too (convict carrots, ha ha). Having tried both, I can give them my official stamp of approval, and I will probably head straight there the next time I hit up the market. Plus, I think it's for sure Experimentarian-approved to sample produce from these homies--I kept expecting to pull out a lock pick or something from one of the beans. :)

There were tons of other delightful things at the market, and I should have taken my camera to snap pics of all the amazing samples the vendors were giving out. Gorgeous peaches, huge melons (that's what HE said--perv),lots of ingenious jams from a booth specializing in hot pepper and fruit preserves, local goats' milk cheese, hummus, and more.

I may venture out to the market again on Tuesday night with my youth group--my girls were totally taken with the idea. If we go, you can bet I'll be doing the mango tango with some of that pepper jelly and swinging by for a little jail-house rockin' tomatoes and spinach!