The aforementioned Saturday morning thunderstorms made for a damp morning at the Del Ray Farmers Market, but fair weather shoppers missed out on one of the best weeks of the year — the turning point between spring and summer where the final strawberries cross paths with the first field-ripened tomatoes and even a few small ears of sweet corn. We had a Father’s Day picnic planned for Sunday, so the boy picked out green and yellow beans (Mr. Biggs) and a pint of sweet cherries (Toigo) to share. We picked up Smith Meadows’ sun dried tomato pasta and sun-colored cherry tomatoes from Three Way Farm, whose stand was bursting with bright yellow and green summer squash, green and red tomatoes, and more. The farmers from Riva had deep red rhubarb and the first pints of the boy’s favorite, blueberries. In true FoodieTot fashion, he devoured his pint whilst roaming the market (pausing for his weekly slice of Tom’s aged cheddar), slurping the final few berries as we escaped to the car just as the next downpour began.

By the way, Jane Black at the Washington Post confirmed today what we’ve been hearing from our market vendors — all that spring-into-summer rain has pretty much washed out this year’s cherry crops. If the trees at Moutoux Orchard are any indication, though, peach season is still on track.

I devoured a wealth of local foods over the weekend – from delicate fried softshell crabs with watermelon at West End Bistro, to dinner on our farm and the Father’s Day picnic at Naked Mountain Winery — but did very little cooking. Never mind, fresh beans served raw needed little more than some fresh locally-made hummus, and those sweet cherries gave a “cheat local” touch to store-brought mini-cupcakes. Hey, at least the wine was homemade….

One Local Summer is an annual challenge in which people around the world join together for 13 weeks of seasonal eating, supporting local farmers and exploring their local foodsheds. Visit FarmtoPhilly on Tuesdays for the weekly round-up; here’s what my neighbors in the Southern region cooked up this week …. and, speaking of picnics, last week we shared a grilled nectarine and tomato salad for Cookie magazine’s virtual picnic; check out the other contributions from some of my favorite foodie parents!

FoodieTots @ the Farmers Market Week continues with some background on why we love the market for teaching healthy habits. This post was originally a guest contribution at Food with Kid Appeal ~ visit Jenna’s blog for more tips to inspire healthy eating with your kids.

This weekend, my son rediscovered his toy shopping cart and insisted on hauling it out for a pre-bedtime grocery shopping trip. He proceeded to entertain us by driving back and forth across the living room and kitchen, visiting the orange juice guy, the ketchup guy, the jam place, and returning his empty milk carton to the door for the milkman to refill. I love that he thinks we have “a guy” for everything!

My son has been shopping our weekly farmers market since he was an infant in a baby carrier. At the time, it was the perfect Saturday morning outing when he woke up at the crack of dawn and nothing else was open. At two and a half now, his tastes are still fairly fickle but he generally will at least try a bite of anything that comes from the market. By engaging my son in the shopping experience, and the sensory wonderland that is available at a farmers market rather than a grocery store, I have found that he is genuinely curious and excited about food.

Shopping at a farmers market or organic grocer provides you with a much wider array of fruits and vegetables than what are generally available at the big box grocery. From heirloom tomatoes in shades of yellow, green, red and purple to orange cauliflower and purple beans, they provide a rainbow of choices that appeal to kids visually. My son was never a huge fan of green beans, but the day we brought home purple beans from the market, he was enthralled. One day this past fall I asked him to bag some beans, giving him the choice of yellow or green. To my surprise, he chose to take some of both, and when we had them for dinner he proudly held them up to his dad and exclaimed, “I picked these yellow and green beans all myself!”

I also find that while my son may look skeptically at a new item placed on his dinner plate, he is almost guaranteed to sample something handed to him by a vendor at the market. Our neighborhood market’s cheese man is his favorite, no doubt due to the generous sample of cave-aged cheddar he receives each week. My son devours it, exclaiming to everyone in sight that, “Tom the Cheese Guy gave me this!” (He now asks at home, “Are those Tom’s eggs? … is that Tom’s cheese?” before determing whether to taste something. Heaven forbid we run out mid-week!) One of our favorite fruit vendors will sometimes slip him a perfectly toddler-sized Seckel pear, which he enjoys with relish. A while back, I was checking out something new to me, sunchokes. When the farmer handed me one to sample, my son demanded a taste as well. He declared it “too spicy,” but I can guarantee that he never would have been interested in trying it had I tried to slip it onto his plate at home.

As parents know, kids love to feel like they are in control, so empowering them to choose their favorites while you shop is a great way to get them engaged in what they are eating. By shopping at a market or organic grocer where virtually all the options are healthy, it helps reduce the temptation of processed foods and gets them excited about healthy foods. My son will often request fruit or cheese as a snack, which I hope will remain a habit as he gets older. When he’s older, I plan to use the market as an opportunity to teach him about money as well, by giving him his own budget and letting him determine what, and how much, to buy. And of course I will be encouraging him to join me in the kitchen as much as possible to learn how to cook his healthy selections, too.

Shared with Fight Back Friday hosted by Food Renegade — check out the round-upround-up!

Calling all farmers market fans! One Local Summer returns in June. If you’re up for the challenge of cooking one all-local meal each week, click the image above to sign up. Here’s a reminder of some of the Chesapeake Bay foodshed meals we enjoyed last year.

The weather here has suddenly plunged from 80 degrees two weeks ago to practically freezing. The first frost means the last of many vegetables at local farms, and last week we got the final batch of fresh green beans in our CSA bag. I discovered during our sushi experiment that my toddler loves sesame seeds, so that was the inspiration for this fast and easy Sesame Beef Stir-Fry. Perfect served with leftover sushi rice, or any rice or grain you have on hand.

Recipe: Sesame Beef Stir-Fry

Ingredients:

1 1/2 – 2 lb. flank steak, sliced into 1/2 inch thick slices

Marinade:

• 2 T honey
• 1 T rice wine vinegar
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/4 t dried ginger
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/4 c low-sodium soy sauce

Sitr-Fry:

• 1 T canola oil
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 lb. green beans, ends trimmed
• 6 radishes, thinly sliced
• 1/4 t chili garlic sauce (more to taste)
• 1 t toasted sesame oil
• 1 T sesame seeds

Instructions: Whisk together marinade ingredients and pour over flank steak in shallow baking dish. Cover and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes. Heat wok or large saute pan over medium high heat. Add oil, then cook beef slices until beginning to brown, about 3 minutes. Remove to a plate or bowl and cover to keep warm. Add garlic and radishes, cook 2 minutes, until radishes soften. Add green beans and cook 2 minutes more. Return beef to pan and stir in chili sauce, sesame oil and sesame seeds and remove from heat. NOTE: For heat sensitive younger eaters, you may wish to separate their portion before adding the chili sauce. Makes 4 servings. Enjoy!