By Christine Barbour
Photography by Daniel Orr

Bloomington is blessed with a remarkable Farmers’ Market—the largest producer-only market in the state. Every Saturday morning, from April through November, farmers and producers come from all over south-central Indiana to sell their wares to hungry market shoppers. As the months pass and the seasons change, the hues of the market go from soft to brilliant to burnished, and the flavors go from delicate to explosive to hearty. Join Bloom Magazine Food Editor Christine Barbour and photographer Daniel Orr on a seasonal tour of the Market’s bounty.

(clockwise from top left) Randy Marmouze on banjo, Jamie Gans on fiddle, Tamara Loewenthal dancing, and Deb Justice on guitar; oyster and shiitake mushrooms; daisies; and spring onions.

Spring (April, May, and June)

ON THE FIRST SATURDAYS of April the produce is all pale green and pinks, the soft pastels of spring. Asparagus, for those lucky and early enough to get it, frilly salad greens, violet onions, rose-colored radishes, and spring flowers grace the market stands.
The mornings are often cold and I can see my breath as I leave my warm car and head to the Showers parking lot. The farmers, out since dawn, are blue of face and red of fingers. The crowd is muted and purposeful as they shop quickly and head to the warmth of home.
One Saturday I wait ’til the sun warms the day and I arrive at the Market late, when there isn’t much to choose from. But Teresa Birtles of Heartland Family Farm has some terrific wild cress, sharp, pungent, peppery. Pesto, I think, and I pick up some Capriole cheese to round out the edgy cress. When I get home I throw the cress into the food processor with a handful of roasted pistachios and a clove of garlic. I puree it with some pistachio oil and toss it all with hot penne pasta. It’s a little sharp, but the melted goat cheese makes it just right.
By early June, the Market begins to hit its stride. Not too hot, not too crowded, lots of good music and gorgeous produce that begins to make the transition from the pastels of spring to the vibrant reds, purples, and greens of summer. My shopping takes much longer on these warm mornings because there are so many people to stop and greet, market friendships that have been hibernating all through the cold months, but that come to life with the sunny heat of summer.
It seems like everyone has beans in June—string beans, roma beans, green beans, yellow beans, striped beans. I get some of the broad, flat romas. I trim them, cut them in half and stew them in a little olive oil with a slivered sweet onion, salt and pepper, and about a half cup of water. When the water simmers out, I throw in a quarter cup or so of chopped kalamata olives, a small tomato, diced, and a small garlic clove, pressed. Then I cook them until they are tender and the tomato and olive oil have formed a lovely sauce. I adjust the salt and pepper, cut some crusty bread for the purpose of sopping up that sauce, and voila, another delicious market lunch.

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