Produce

Beth and I went to the Haymarket today as our contribution to the fourth floor food co-op. If you've never been, its a market where you really have to shop around between stands. One might sell you 10 good limes for a dollar, and another might have 15 rotting limes for a dollar (but you wouldn't know until you bougt them, because the vendors rarely let you choose your own produce). Some of the vendors are rude and yell at the customers, particularly any asian or ethnic shoppers. You can just shop based on the produce, but it helps to pay attention to the vendors, because nice stall operators make all the difference. From one man, I asked for four pounds of yellow onions and three pounds of roma tomatoes (for two dollars). He said, "Onions, yes. I will not sell you the tomoatos, they are no good." He gestures over his shoulder at the manager who's looking in the other direction. "He says to not look as you fill the bags, but..." And that was very nice of him. There was a pair of asian women running a huge booth, and they had the best vegetables of the entire market, I think. We bought lemons, white mushrooms, cherry tomatos and red and green peppers from them. I haven't been able to find cherry tomatos in the normal grocery stores, so that was excellent.

Beth and I had gone all the way through the market and were heading back (in order to buy a box of strawberries from the only stand where they looked decent), when Beth saw a vendor with herbs and said, "Oh, the basil!" We'd been looking for basil and spinach all morning (and had also just bought the best baby spinach for $1/lb). The vendor heard her, turned to us and said, "Ladies, I have two kinds of basil. I have bad basil and good basil, and both kinds cost the same. Two dollars." Well, it was no contest. Beth and I stood around talking while he talked to another customer. He turned back to us and asked, "What will it be?" Beth laughed and said, "It will have to be the good basil, please."

It took him a minute to find it, but he pulled a sealed produce box from where he had hidden it underneath his stand. I thought it looked suspicious because water had condensed all over the box, but when he opened the opaque plastic bag, you could smell the basil. The bunch of basil was a good handful around and as long as my forearm and the leaves were absolutely perfect in shape, size and color. We paid the man and thanked him, and he told us to have a good day. We meant it, and so did he. We spent our last two dollars on the strawberries and walked back to Government Center to catch the T.

We ate strawberries while we waited for the train.

Once we got back to Senior House and put away the vegetables, Usman and I made breakfast. We made omelettes and a spinach-basil salad. It was delicious.

Several hours (and minor adventures later) I've set up my external hard drive and am thinking about my thesis. It's produce of a different kind.