Talk to a farmer

Yuri Hulak, from Orange, apple grower

We're going to declare September "talk to a farmer" month and challenge all our readers to talk to the farmers at our markets and learn one new thing.  We'd be interested in what you learn!

One of the best things about shopping at a farmers' market is not only buying the freshest produce, but talking to the person who grew or reared the food.  Through one simple conversation you might find that last Saturday morning the farms experienced incredible frost, unlike any beginning to spring that they'd seen....  

Or that heirloom green tomatoes actually are sweet and juicy, not unripe (which is how they look to an untrained, non-heirloom tomato buying set of eyes like mine) and just PERFECTION in a salad... 

Or that Monsanto are buying up all the seed companies and often sell their seeds for $1.50 each. $1.50 for one seed??????????

Or that chickens LOVE eating pumpkin and go a bit crazy for the stuff....

Or that if apples get frost on them their sugar is concentrated in the frosted areas and they're actually sweeter....

This is just the tip of the iceberg.  We'd love to hear your stories, tips, tricks, recipes or tid-bits of information that you learned by talking to a farmer, that you otherwise wouldn't have known.

Got any gems to share?