Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative
Thank you for all your supportive comments on my blogger burnout. I agree that the first week of work is always the most stressful and now that I’m in a more consistent routine, I should adjust my blogging habits accordingly.
Unfortunately, this area has some of the worst traffic in the country but at least my morning commute is productive as I listen to NPR and get to work already brimming with ideas about the day’s top stories — not by reading the newspaper while driving, which I see a surprising number of people doing! 
There’s also a gym at work so when it gets cold, I’ll head there in the evenings and hope the traffic is better once it’s later.
Anyway, you’re not here to read about traffic complaints, you want to know about food. 
One of the things I love about this area is the mix of rural and urban. My neighborhood is very urban, just a mile from DC, and a self-contained city. The county still has a lot of farms, though, and farmers markets are everywhere. There are three just within a short walk of my apartment!
The oldest is the Montgomery Farm Women’s Cooperative, which has been around since the 1930s.
Vendors both inside and outside sell crafts, art, fruits and vegetables, dairy, meat, baked goods, flowers, canned foods, and pretty much anything else you can think of.
It’s the kind of place where you walk around and hear vendors greet customers by name: “Oh, Bob, how did you like that squash?” “Hey Mary, I brought some strawberries today.”
I want to become a regular, too, in the same way that my tomato man knew me in Korea. Okay, to be fair, tomato man didn’t know my name and always looked a little surprised to see a hulking American girl approaching his cart… but he saw me every week.
Besides getting the great personal interaction, you can always find fantastic deals on local produce. My huge bag was stuffed with lettuce, tomatoes, summer squash, green beans and cucumbers, all for under $10. Now I just need to eat it all! 
There are so many interesting things I want to try next time, like elderberry jam and Swiss chard. Too many delicious foods, not enough room in my refrigerator (or stomach!).
Plus, it’s just a block from Trader Joe’s so it’s easy to swing by and pick up a few items that I can’t get at the farmers market.
Heading out to watch the big US-England World Cup game shortly. Who are you cheering for? Do you care about the World Cup? I’m torn! I love England and had the most amazing experience living in London, but have completely newfound American pride since spending so much time traveling overseas.
The solution? Wear red, white and blue and support both teams!
Aww, that looks like such a neat little market!! Congrats on completing your first week at your new job!
Thank you!
the market looks amazing!
I am cheering for England!
That looks like a great market. You should try Swiss Chard sometime. While I’m not that into it (I’m more of a spinach and kale girl), I know lots of people who prefer it over all other greens. Rainbow chard is really pretty in particular.
Do you cook it like spinach? It looks so intriguing!
You can, yeah! It has a bit more of a “green” and peppery taste than spinach, but not as much as kale.
I use it in smoothies sometimes.
You can also use it instead of grape leaves to make stuffed grape leaves (or I guess they would be stuffed chard leaves, but you get the idea).
Nice market! Our farmer’s market runs 8-1 Saturdays so I never make it as I work every Saturday
That was a slightly boring game! I fell asleep after the first 1/2. But I am happy it was a tie.
I heard that the US sees a tie the same as a win, considering that they were favored to lose. So… good?
I’m not a big sports fan, I usually only watch ice hockey and definitely no football! it’s funny, because I should be interested because I’m half-German but I could not care less. My dad is so dissapointed each year
First of all, MAJOR kudos for dealing with that insane traffic every day. When I went on my road trip last year, that area was easily the most congested (probably didn’t help that we hit it at rush hour). I can’t imagine doing that every day. When I was at our ABC affiliate, there were times when the commute would be an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes, and I was SO ready to get out of the car by the end.
Congratulations on a great first week at the new job!! I hope you’ve been doing nothing but relaxing this weekend
Thanks Shari!
I’ve gotten a lot of jewelry at that farm market. It is nice.