The last weekend of April (29th) I went into Bonn to do some produce shopping. The market in Bonn is much larger than in Siegburg, and competition means better prices.  Sorry for the blurry photos, I only had my ipod with me. But perhaps fun to see anyways.

Fennel! I didn’t get any this time, but I am really excited to try a fennel salad recipe from Alice Waters. If I remember correctly it is with fennel, orange sections, and black olives. Sounds a bit bizarre, but I trust Alice.

Asparagus invasion!

I do now REALLY appreciate the friendly and courteous Siegburg farmers, compared to the rude volume-pushers of Bonn, yelling their prices out constantly. I only wanted ONE bell pepper, but that was NOT allowed. One KILO was the minimum purchase…only one Euro, but come on, what does the average person do with a whole kilo of peppers? I also didn’t want to carry an whole bag around with me. So NO PEPPER FOR ME. I thought of the soup nazi in Seinfeld…and I thought this guy is the bell pepper nazi…and then I realized that was totally non-PC considering my circumstances.

Moving on to the citrus!

Then I strolled over to Münster Platz and there was a handi-crafts fair going on. The artisans were also demonstrating their skills: basket weaving, pottery, jewelry making, silk dying, felting…you know…the usual.

All that shopping was exhausting and required refreshment.

Although I didn’t take home a bell pepper, I did get quite a handful. Here is the price breakdown, for those of you curious: Pineapple 1€, Strawberries 1.50€, Avocado 3 for 2€, blood Oranges 2€, Parsley, Celery, Spring Onions, Artichokes, and Tomatoes 5.65€. It was Saturday at 2 pm, so the vendors were eager to sell the last of the strawberries and pineapple, thus I got a bit of a deal 😉

I used the celery, avocado, spring onions, and oranges in a quite interesting farro salad. Hope you are also enjoying the fresh markets!  Remember to stp and smell the flowers!