8.02.2013

Carpenito Bros.

I don't know what I love more: the gorgeous flowers at Carpenito from late winter to early summer, or the specatular produce when the place transitions to a farm stand in June.

When the corn comes in in August I'm there often... it's Dave's favorite summer vegetable, and Carpenito grows their own. One of my favorite sights is one of their John Deere tractors pulling a trailer of corn through the streets of town, on its way from the fields to the farm stand.

The corn is amazing, but there's so much more. Fruit from local sources and if it's not grown here, they'll bring it in from the Yakima valley. Raspberries and blueberries and strawberries; cherries and plums and apricots, melons, and apricots (my favorite). Salad greens and onions, cucumbers and zucchini, melons and peppers from their own farms in Auburn. Tomatoes from California and warmer climates right now, replaced by local tomatoes of all kinds once the weather allows. It's the best place for heirloom tomatoes, at prices that won't break the bank.

The place was mobbed, and as I threaded my way through the rows I noticed a woman choosing melons, then noticed she was wearing a Safeway uniform. I just smiled.

Today I was in the market for salad greens and veggies for roasting, my favorite summertime dinner fare. For salads, Romaine lettuce, red leaf lettuce, and tomatoes. For oven roasting, green beans, garlic, onions, green peppers, basil, and zucchini. And fresh, valley grown sweet corn. Yum.

Two big carry bags of the freshest produce, about 12 pounds worth, for $11. When I got home I couldn't resist weighing the huge head of Romaine lettuce:  it weighed 3.4 pounds, and cost 85 cents.




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