Japan Farmers Markets

  A colorful selection of kabu (turnips) at the Farmers Market at UNU. It has been some time, to say the least, since I have ventured out to a farmers market. Some, like the Kamakura market, have been running steadily, and others, like the Aoyama Marche, scaled back and ran in other places or shifted online as much as possible. Now that the State of Emergency (SOE) is over, the number of cases down, and the number of vaccinations up, markets opening up again bit by bit. Below is what I have thus far. If you notice something missing or that needs updating, get in touch! Market of the Sun This market remains closed. It is wonderful when it's open, so be sure to check their Facebook page for updates.  Koenji Farmers Market Saturday, October 16* This market is open! Held the third Saturday of the month in front of the Za-Koenji Public Theatre , this market is a charming mix of local fare and nearby growers. Check out the website for vendor details. 11am - 5pm Map Oiso Farmers Market T

Nukazuke well done and then some. A cucumber left a bit too long in the nukadoko pickle pot.  It was bound to happen. This is not one of my prouder moments, but a diary is a place of truth and learning. Here is my truth: I did not check or mix my nuka paste one day. The Scenario Right after the carrot halves, I decided to do up some cucumbers for friends. The nukadoko has become something of a communal resource, and I regularly supply my landlord neighbor and a handful of other friends with nukazuke . I am happy to do it as we can't eat everything the pot produces, and it gives me even more excuses to experiment and play. So, I dutifully washed, dried, salt rubbed, sweated, and rinsed some of the season's last cucumbers and put them in the pot around 1pm. I planned to take them out that evening and box them up for delivery the next day. The Crime I did not return that evening. I did not return the next day. It isn't so much that I forgot the pickle pot, but that I remember

The first carrot to emerge from the nukadoko. A conversation with a local farmer at their farm stand informed me that cucumber season was over. To be honest, I was only a little bit sad at this news. Because of the nukadoko , we've eaten more cucumbers than ever before. It's been great and delicious fun, but I'm ready for something new. As the farmer and I continued chatting, I noticed a selection of bright orange carrots. Like many times found at farm stands, these vivid specimens were most likely the wrong size, wrong shape, etc. Even though they looked perfectly fine to me, they didn't meet the strict standards set by distributors and supermarkets for produce. The quality, though, is the same, so some farmers sell these castoffs from small stands just outside the farm gate. Carrots, then, were up next for the nukadoko . Preparing the Carrot I trimmed off the top, peeled, cut the carrot in half as it was quite long, and salt-rubbed each half and set them to the side t