San Antonio Green Market

I do love early mornings, don't you? Unfortunately I love my bed more and you rarely find me out of bed before the sun.  So what was I doing up in the chill, misty, pre-dawn of the Santa Cruz Valley two weekends ago? For the longest while I have wanted to visit the San Antonio Green Market. This farmer's market is located in a valley not too far from where I live. It's a small market with some noble aspirations as explained in this video.

I was relieved to see that the land which was cleared for the market space has greened up nicely and is now quite scenic. In fact I was happily distracted from my shopping by the numerous hummingbirds that darted among the flowers and the feeders along the walkway.

One of the goals of this market is to encourage farmers to use less pesticides so the produce you find here is organic. It's worth coming back often because what's on offer varies and is dependent on seasonal availability.

In season now are chennette, mangoes and passion fruit. There were yellow and pink passion fruit on the day that I visited. I bought some of these beauties to make passion fruit curd. The yellows are slightly sweeter than the pinks which were just a bit more tart in my opinion. Both are fabulous for making passion fruit curd. Just swap out the lemon juice in this recipe with passion fruit for an easy peasy curd in just 5 minutes.

I freely admit that I have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with the stuff. Passion fruit curd over my oatmeal with mangoes for breakfast ~ a little bit of heaven.

As you walk through the market you are likely to score some fabulous finds by local artisans.  I bought a gorgeous hand-carved, teak, salad bowl but the old fashioned tops also caught my eye. My boys were delighted to be given a demonstration.

Aren't these soaps adorable? I have seen some fancy, French ones that were quite similar, in a high-end store in the mall. These locally crafted soaps are every bit as good.

Now is a good time to mention that you should definitely keep abreast of the market events and latest products on offer by liking San Antonio Green Market's Facebook page. It was here that I learned about this beautiful stained glass piece. I am currently stalking them and simultaneously trying to convince my husband that we need something like this in our home.

Since stained glass flowers are unlikely anytime in my near future it's my luck that there are always lovely tropical blooms on sale. I can never resist these sexy pinks. I am not trying to be cute. Sexy pink is actually the name of this pink heliconia cultivar and it is one of my favourites.

After shopping it was time for breakfast. We were advised to try the arepas and they did not disappoint. Sorry there are no actual photos of the food but after all the walking around, they were inhaled. At this point it was time to put the camera down.

It can be said that food is about community. It takes a community of farmers to grow or rear our food. Then we gather in spaces like this to purchase it before finally gathering around a table to partake. 

This little market has just that kind of friendly, community spirit. While here you should expect to fall easily into conversations with random strangers. Folks here smile at you and pass on advice, like telling you that the locally grown and produced cocoa tea (hot chocolate) is not to be missed.  Unfortunately with all the people I stopped and chatted with along the way,  I missed out on the cocoa tea. In a sense, I am glad since it gives me reason to visit again.