The Canyon Lake Farmers Market can keep your family in fresh produce for nearly a week at a time.
It’s open on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. This summer I visited each week and brought home enough fresh vegetables for dinnertime side dishes to get us through the week, and enough fresh fruit to nosh on through about Thursday.
Farmers markets in general are wonderful local resources. This particular one is a California Certified Farmers Market, which means the state has ensured that food sold at the market comes directly from the farmer and not a middleman distributor. That’s significant because it means all those yummy fruits and veggies come from local farms – not giant national corporations that truck food all over the continent. This produce is fresh, it supports local farmers and because it didn’t have to travel far, it didn’t march around leaving heavy carbon footprints. (For a fascinating, in-depth education on where most of Americans’ food comes from and the environmental implications, read Barbara Kingsolver’s 2007 book, "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle"
The Canyon Lake Farmers Market is not a huge operation. If you linger at every booth you might spend an hour. Besides fresh produce, vendors sell flowers, breakfast burritos, jewelry, clothing and even, at one booth, parakeets.
This is an outdoor, year-round market, launched in 2008. Held in the parking lot of the Canyon Lake Towne Center, it’s a convenient spot for residents of Canyon Lake, Sun City, Menifee and eastern Lake Elsinore. Parking is free. Vendors take only cash. (If you run short, the Guaranty Bank branch in the same shopping center has an ATM). Bringing your own bags and a cart or stroller to haul your purchases helps. Trying to carry a watermelon, eight ears of corn, a head of cabbage, three pounds of peaches and six tomatoes while juggling your wallet and car keys gets old really fast.
Enjoy all the fruit and vegetable samples. The peaches and nectarines have been especially fabulous this 2009 season. The farmers can offer tips on how to prepare their wares, too. One merchant this summer routinely offered samples of a wonderfully addicting cucumber salad: thick spears of peeled cukes, soaking in a lemon juice-serrano pepper-scallion-and-salt brine. (At home, you can substitute lime juice for the lemon and fresh jalapeno for the serrano if you’d like, and even add a generous sprinkle of sugar and/or fresh chopped mint to balance the salt.)
One heads-up about the farmers market: A fire in summer 2009 destroyed several buildings in the rear of the shopping center, next to where the market sets up. While cleanup and repairs continue, the chain-link fence around the damaged property messes up the traffic flow in the parking area closest to the market. Resist the temptation to park in the closest empty spots. You’ll be able to get out easier if you park farther away, or find a spot in the parking section on the opposite side of the farmer’s market.
Find the Canyon Lake Farmers Market at 31528 Railroad Canyon Rd., Canyon Lake, Calif., 92587.
For more info: Contact Cunningham Organic Farms, which runs the market, at http://www.thefarmersmarket247.com/
For more info about California Certified Farmers Markets, see: http://www.cafarmersmarkets.com/index.html
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