Fresh fruits and veggies, free range chicken and duck eggs, low-mercury fish, nuts and seeds, raw honey, local cheeses and breads, hand-made ice cream and homemade pasta–does it get any better? And bonus, many of these are brain food! Here in Seattle, neighborhood farmers markets abound from May- October. Almost every day of the week, fresh food enthusiasts will find a farmers market someplace in the Seattle area.

Our biggest market, Pike Place Farmers Market, stays open year-round, along with two other neighborhood markets that I know of (Ballard and University).

A chance to taste and purchase these delicious and nutritional foods, often picked the very day of the market, aren’t the only reason I enjoy visiting the farmers market. I also go for the smells and the colors– but most of all, for the people. Overhearing snippets of conversation, watching a small child with her mom, laughing at the antics of an enthusiastic dog–all become fodder for the creativity mill in my head. More than a few times, the things I see and hear play into a story I’m working on or thinking about.

If you’re looking for ideas, give your brain a food boost and visit your local farmers market.  I guarantee you won’t come away empty.

Until Wednesday, and wishing you good food in whatever form,

Ann