Piedmont Triad Farmers' Market

Inside The Piedmont Triad Farmers' Market

Markets. They're just so cool. My favorite is the Borough Market in London, but almost every city from Cardiff (a Victorian Market) to Stockel Belgium has one. Greensboro has a couple too. The Piedmont Triad Farmers' Market is one of them. Built by the state and placed in practically the middle of nowhere, I've been perplexed for ages why you would build such a great public resource in the middle of corn field next to a interstate. Likely due to its geography between the three triad cities of Greensboro, High Point, and Winston Salem, but you can't help but contemplate how awesome this would have been if it was actually built downtown. (Yes I realize it's called Piedmont Triad, not Greensboro, and that there is one downtown, but I digress.) In fact the worst part of the Piedmont Triad Farmers' Market  is indeed its location. It's in upper-class suburbia, which thankfully isn't too far from my school, "Ghetto Technical Community College", as many of my younger counter-part students refer to it as. Since it was a single-class-day for me and Shan, we decided to venture to the market in hopes of finding some of my favorite homemade strawberry syrup, that you can only buy at the Piedmont Triad Farmers' Market.

This wasn't my first pilgrimage to the Greensboro market for the syrup. In fact, I still can recall the first morning I ever tasted real, North Carolina grown strawberry syrup:

Yes, that's a "cock".

Now I love strawberries. I buy hair products in strawberry, candles in strawberries, strawberry ice-cream, even as I write this I'm wearing my strawberry colored pajamas which Shan has nicknamed "the shortcake" outfit. 

So I yank out the Aunt Jemimah (has to be Aunt Jemimah.... nothing less will do.), and whip up some pancakes. In the recent weeks I've learned to flip pancakes without a spatula and it seems to impress the kids. They weren't here so I impressed myself. A few minutes later I slapped my pancake on to a plate, topped with some butter and drizzled it with the strawberry syrup. Oh my gosh is it good. I love it.

Not the most amazing bakery, but "okay."

So prior to arriving at the Piedmont Triad Farmers' Market, I took out twenty dollars at the ATM, and advised Shan that she could spend ten-dollars of it, and I would get the other half. I'm not so sure she liked this concept, as her previous monarchical rule of fruits and vegetables often requires my half of our shared bank account. However once I got my syrup, I surrendered to her oppressive regime, and we put our money together to buy some Goat Lady cheese to spread on the home-made (and totally awesome) baguettes we've been baking at Chez Liv's.

I will admit, I did attempt to plead my case for using the remaining $17.75 we had, prior to the cheese, and Shan's peaches, and Shan's tomato, to visit the Moose Cafe for lunch. Often rated as one of the best restaurants in Greensboro, but I've yet to go. Some day when I crawl out of this imperial rule perhaps I will go, till then I'll just have to take everyone's opinion on the quality of the food.

I forgot my arthritis medicine as you can see.

During the week, and I suspect partially due to it's location, the market is a haven for old people. I think it was geriatric day at the Piedmont Triad Farmers' Market today, as I caught two elderly 90 year olds holding hands as they walked up the aisles of fruits and vegetables. I was too busy smiling to grab the camera, but it was definitely way cute.

Of course, as I've criticized before, I think the market needs more food vendors. The endless rows of tomato plants, while interesting, seems to upstage the more hidden gems. Goat lady, and Sausage Man need to get together with Cheese Haus, and Bakery Brute and start selling sandwiches in my humble opinion.. How about some mulled wine, truffles, or Welsh Cakes? Look, I love the market, and it is, as I said before: awesome, but it's a travesty it was built where you must have a car to get to, and is often filled with repetitive stalls of un-unique local produce. (Lacking diversity.) The strawberry syrup, and ostrich meat is a start, and I'm certain there are more treasures to uncover, but I just can't justify driving to Kernersville every time I want to visit my local Farmers' Market.