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Country living is the place to be…

Country living is the place for me…

Yup.  Singing isn’t my strongest skill.  Neither is blogging…but…um….let’s move on.  I mentioned that when we moved from our previous suburbian home that we moved into the country.  To da cuuuuntree.  And in the said rural community we have a fruit stand.  It’s totally charming.  It’s also in town…takes me twelve minutes to get there…after driving from the outer country into our little country town.     

Forgive me for not having a ton of Will eating yummy fruit photos…it was a juggling act trying to gather produce while keeping Will from gathering produce…and throwing it.

If you can believe it, we first came here for the local honey.  Growing up I always had sinus issues…and I’ve heard that local honey can be one of those home remedies for the Boogie Man. 

Plus, the veggies and fruit are so well priced…just as low as a grocery store (sometimes lower on native produce that grows here in Georgia). 

So once a week we make a fruit stand run and usually come home with a couple bags full of nature’s bounty.

Right now we can’t get enough of the peaches and plums.  Actually Will had his first plum before we even exited the tent…and gave me this look of “WHY WOMAN WOULD YOU HOLD OUT ON ME LIKE THIS?!” upon the first bite.  Then I let him choke on the pit for being a smart alec 🙂

So do you guys have a local place you go for fresh fruits and veggies?  A farmers market or a fruit stand?  Or are you more grocery store peeps?  Oh and does any one have an amazing recipe for peaches that are on their last days?  I am thinking of trying this one from the fabulous Darcy…but I could use another before they go bad!

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  1. Yes – We love those fruit roll ups! My husband want to try some with watermelon:) I have a few local fruit stands I visit. I tried my hand at gardening but let’s say I’ll leave that to other people. I’ll be sad when it gets colder and the fresh fruits and veggies end.

  2. We live in the burbs… however there is a family who owns two small produce stores. They get all their fruit and veggies locally. Its great. We were going to the farmers market weekly but that got very pricy… yummy but pricy. This place is great and we still feel like we are helping the little guy… I dont like how fruit and veggies from the grocery stores are picked so early… where is the nutrients in the food???

  4. By my parents’ house, there are a ton of farms (they live in the ‘burbs). I guess that’s Jersey for ya. We’re currently in Staten Island and a farm sets up shop in the Ferry Terminal. I tend to buy a LOT of apples… and apple cider… and apple cider donuts.

  5. Farmer’s markets and fruit stands are the way to go! Not just for supporting local economies but because everything tastes so much better. We have a few great ones where we live and we patron them often.

    I wish my kids liked peaches. They are so delicious. My middle child took her first bite, gagged, and declared them “too squeezy” to be eaten. Oh well. More for me. 🙂

  6. Katie,
    Let me know if you want a fabulous fresh peach pie recipe. Simple, easy, delicious!
    Jason

  7. We live out in the middle of nowhere too and there is a sweet man who sits roadside with his wares. Everyday in this crazy summer heat! My husband and I bought from him for the first time last week and they were delicious! It felt good to support our local farmer too.

  8. I’d freeze any peaches that need to be eaten. If nothing else they’d be perfect for a smoothie.

  9. I live right outside of Nashville and we are blessed with a FABULOUS farmer’s market!! That being said, I bought a bushel and a half of peaches from my food co-op and then spent the next several days canning (first time!) and freezing! So….for peaches on their last leg…I have used in smoothies or a crumble (yum) or just cut in half, take out pit, and freeze on a sheet tray lined with wax or parchment paper and then once they are frozen, bag them up and stick in freezer for the winter months when peaches cost 5 bucks a pound!! My daughter loves plums, too…her fav.

  12. We recently joined a CSA (community supported agriculture) and every week we get to pick up 3/4 of a bushel of local organic produce. It was pretty affordable if you break it down by week and so far we haven’t gotten anything but delicious produce. We pick up our share at a farmer’s market in our neighborhood so we inevitably spend another $20 or $30 on deliciousness we find there…like tofu, cheese, bread. It’s divine.

  13. Not sure if you’re a champagne girl, but these are amazing!

    Frozen Peach Bellinis

    1 peach (ripened)
    1 cup prosecco (white, Italian sparkling wine)
    1/4 cup peach schnapps (such as DeKuyper)
    2 cups crushed ice

    Blanch a peach in boiling water – for about 30 seconds; remove from water and peel off skin Cut into chunks and puree in blender until smooth. Place in a small baggie and freeze about 5 hours. (These are so good that we puree about six individually and place each in an individual baggie – freeze them to have on hand.)

    Prepare 2 cups of chopped ice in the blender – place in a bowl while you prepare the rest. In the blender, combine frozen peach puree with prosecco and peach schnapps. Process until smooth. Add 2 cups crushed ice and blend until slushy. Serve immediately. This makes champagne-flute size Bellinis – 90 calories each.

    Enjoy! =)

  14. I am from “the country” – born and raised in Central PA – meaning I GREW UP on Produce Stands/Farmer’s Markets. Nothing is better than homegrown food. For seriously.

    However, I have since moved to Central Texas (aka. the land of hot weather and no rain) and I have been SO SAD about not having any fresh foods. Texas is dry. Nothing is growing. I’m sad.

    Good for you for introducing Will to yummy healthy food!!!

  15. We live in the suburbs, but during the summer there are farmers’ markets everyday of the week. I’m addicted!

    As for peaches, I made a super yummy and easy peach cobbler, so easy that my 2 year old helped. You can search for it on epicurious.com.

  16. Growing up in good ole country of Alaska(different country than the south but still wild and free) my great grandma had a garden(her and my grandma born and raised southerns). So I have always loved fresh veggies, I carried that tradition on when living in apartments with making sure I bought local from farmers markets. Now that am older I have my own garden, which is really fun for kids to see things grow, once Will is older you have plenty of land to look into starting a small one. I have a rasberry area, strawberries, tomatoes( my husband loves them so we have beefsteak to cherry), peppers(hot ones and good ole bell peppers), squash, cucumbers, carrots, etc. But what I can not get to grow I def go to stands or markets. It makes me feel like they care about my dollars being spent. I am cutting out the middle man and knowing that they weren’t shipped means they weren’t sprayed with some nasty stuff to keep from going bad and had more gas wasted on them.

    I do still use grocery stores, we all have to. But their produce is just…not up to par anymore. Also being stationed in Europe. I am really loving that each town has it’s own bakery, butcher, little grocery store with fresh and local produce etc. I will miss the fresh bread the most..

    yum. carbs.=)

  17. I was just about to blog about this recipe. But you can have it 😉
    Lazy Day Cobbler
    1 cup sugar
    1 cup flour
    1 cup milk
    1 stick butter
    1 cup fruit
    Combine sugar, flour and milk in 9×9 dish. Pour diced fruit (with their juices) over top. Melt the butter and pour on top. Bake for 50 minutes at 350.
    Done!

  20. I love my local farmers market. I go weekly and it’s actually a savings vs the grocery store (on most things). I’ve been using local honey since January and have been allergy free (I suffer from seasonal allergies in Spring/Fall). I mix a spoonful of the honey into a plain greek yogurt – delish! Enjoy your peaches!

  22. I use to live in Des Moines, IA which had the most ammmmaaazing farmer’s market (seriously, one of the top ranked in the USA!). I would love going there. The city I am in now doesn’t offer as much…unless all you want is sweet corn!

  25. Fruit stands and markets are one of my favorite things about summer! I’ve made about 5 different peach recipes because I can’t stop buying them 🙂 Enjoy!

  27. I love combining sweet and savory:

    Peach, Mozzarella, and Basil Salad

    Serves 4

    3 ripe peaches (peeled, if desired)
    1 cup fresh basil leaves, torn
    8 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 1-inch chunks
    2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
    1⁄4 teaspoon kosher salt
    1⁄8 teaspoon black pepper

    Cut each peach into 6 to 8 wedges, then cut each wedge in half, crosswise. In a large bowl, combine the peaches, basil and mozzarella. Drizzle with the oil, sprinkle with the salt and pepper, and toss. (You can cover and refrigerate the salad for up to several hours.) Serve cold or at room temperature.

    We belong to a CSA, and Charles and I both work at a natural foods co-op. I, and my fellow co-op cohorts across the country, are blogging about locally grown food and posting recipes if you’d like to check it out: http://www.eatlocalamerica.coop/

  28. We live in a city, but have two farmer’s markets we frequent weekly. My munchkin is a hell raiser and I usually end up carrying him the whole time b/c he REALLY likes to pull tableclothes, climb under the fruit stands, and steal other kids’ toys. Last week, he climbed up on the musician’s guitar to help him.

    Its one of my favorite places to take him b/c its outdoors but I can get something productive done at the same time.

    Plums are T’s favorite too – and I prefer them over cherries b/c with cherries he ends up looking like he’s bleeding profusely from the mouth. I can’t believe he doesn’t eat peaches or nectarines b/c that’s all I ate in the first trimester of pregnancy.

  31. I’m so jealous that you have that just 12 minutes from you! We have farmer’s markets and CSAs and all of that here in the DC-Metro, but it’s SO expensive compared to the grocery store. I’d love to buy local fruits and veggies every week, but usually it’s a bit out of our budget to do on a regular basis, so we save that for once a month or so and stick to the grocery store (boo) for the weekly trips.

  32. Last night I made PW’s latest recipe, Peach-Whiskey barbecue chicken and smashed potatoes, AMAZING. Literally like so good you just want to tell everyone you know to go make it. now. Right now! Its a very easy recipe and I’m sure you could use fresh peaches instead of the peach preserves. I’d make the smashed potatoes recipe too, so easy and kids love it 🙂

  34. YES!! My new favorite thing to toss together for lunch. Peaches cut up into bite size pieces, fresh mozzarella cut up into bite size pieces, shredded fresh basil leaves, splash of extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and fresh pepper. WOW. So ridiculously simple and good.

  36. Love the yummy produce pictures! Although I have to admit the first thing I honed in on was “boiled peanuts” sign. My dad is stationed at the Air Force base in Charleston SC and when we visited him we were introduced to these southern novelties. I am so not a fan, but they remind me of good family times 😉

  37. OMG! They have boiled peanuts! YUM! The last time we made our trip to Florida I looked EVERYWHERE for some boiled peanuts and I couldn’t find any. Lucky you to have them so close.

  38. I LOVE fresh peaches. We live in a “rural” area of NJ with some farms nearby so I frequent those all summer. (I say “rural” because I grew up in SW Virginia, in the Appa. Mtns. near TN and WV and that was country/rural! NJ is not, even though people up here seem to think it is!) Anyways, I’m going to try some of these recipes. Do you keep your peaches in the fridge or on the counter? I love them nice and cold straight from the fridge!

    P.S. – what’s the secret with the honey home remedy?

  41. I’m also going to put my vote in for PW’s Blueberry cobbler recipe. I use that on whatever fruit we have on hand when I need a quick, throw together dessert (like those times my mom randomly calls and says, “we’re coming over for dessert”), and it always works well and tastes delish.

    I live in a urban area, but I went to college in a town where the fruit stands and farmer’s markets where amazing. Now I get our fresh, local veggie fix from a CSA membership, but I still miss walking through the farmer’s market stalls, scoping out the variety, and talking to the farmers about the best things to pick up that week.

  42. I live in PA Amish country where roadside stands abound! There’s one that I love that is literally 2 minutes away. They make and sell this amazing homemade granola. Mmm…it’s all chewy and delish. Just got some local honey there too. I am very thankful for the abundance of fresh produce here:) And as far as those peaches go–my Mom used to make a baked peach french toast that was amazing. I’m sure you can google it and find a winner.

  44. My favorite is super easy peach cobbler: make a layer of cookies or graham crackers, crumbled or not, in whatever size dish you have enough peaches to fill. Slice or dice your peaches and spread in the dish, sprinkle with cinnamon. Mix flour, butter and sugar to form a dough and make flat circle pieces to mostly cover the top. Bake till it’s done and enjoy!

    I love making it in an individual serving dish for an afternoon snack. It’s great alone or topped with whipped cream… YUM!

  45. You should try the Dekalb Farmers Market off Ponce. It’s probably not too far from you. I make it over there once a week from Duluth. It’s a HUGE place full of all sorts of goodies.
    Have you tried it?

  46. I have a great “Farmers Market” that we to frequent. Its right in my back yard, literally! If I’m looking for a little something extra, I go 4 miles down the road to Jenny Jack Sun Farm, a great chemical free farm. Or swing by Callaway Gardens on Friday afternoons (cause its free, and the bubba’s like to play in the water.) I’m also part of a CSA where we purchase our meat.

    You could also slice up the peaches and peel them, set them in the freezer on a cookie sheet to save them for later.

  47. YES YES Farmer’s Market EVERY SINGLE SATURDAY morning is our tradition. We live in an apartment in the city and we load up on fresh fruits and veggies to take us through the week. Plus an occasional fresh baked muffin for breakfast. And definitely the local honey, cheese, even salsa. It is all delicious and we love participating in the summer tradition at the same time supporting our local farmers. They even set up in the neighborhood train station parking lot where everyone gathers traditionally. Big city life with a small town feel. That is definitely part of the charm.

  49. We always juice our old peaches. The kids looove it. I usually throw in a few apples or oranges to go with the peaches, since the peaches make quite a thick juice. Super yummy.

  51. We live in the CSRA, in a city that’s a delightful blend of suburban life and Farmville, USA. (It’s rich people horse country.. but don’t be fooled. We have neither money nor horses!) Downtown, across the railroad tracks our city has a thriving farmers’ market. The first time you show up you could swear you’ve jumped back in time 50 years. I’ve never had better okra, butternut squash, peaches, honey, etc., before we moved here and found this little gem!

  52. Is this the fruit stand in loganville?… I use to go there all the time. We just moved 3 months ago to Arizona for the next 5 years. I soooooo miss this stand. I am allergic to bees so I went there for the honey as well. Their brunswick stew & preserves are yummy as well. This post made me miss home!

  53. Katie, you ARE good at blogging. I noticed you putting yourself down in the last few posts, and it makes me sad! I love your blog, and it has evolved with you, bringing baby Will into the mix, and although i originally read for the house stuff, I now get very excited when i see all the adorable shots of Will, too. Do what works for you! We are still reading! 🙂

  54. I love going to farmers markets and stands. They’re just hard for us to get to during our busy weekends (it kind of ends up being a half day event for us! Especially at the state farmers market, which is huge!), so to ensure a good supply of local produce we have basically a CSA delivery every week. It’s great, forces us to eat a steady supply of fruits and veggies. It’s not cheaper than the grocery store, but we get more than we would probably buy at the grocery store on our own free will. 🙂

  55. Oh my, I LOVE that fruit stand – that’s the one off 78, right? Their produce is awesome. My husband and I always buy our honey from them, 1 tsp per day REALLY helps with our allergies in the springtime.

  57. sometimes if you start early with the throwing phase, really hitting it hard, it stops before it escalates. Rather than taking photos of it, maybe try using some gentle discipline.

  58. Some people won’t agree…but we don’t mind the throwing. We want Will to know that throwing is okay…BUT we want him to know that throwing some things – like balls is alright but other things…like knives is not. But your point about gentle discipline is right on…and we’ve been doing that.
    xo – kb

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