The Flea Market is considered the largest flea market in the nation. Webster is about 8 miles from Sumter Oaks Park. It is huge covering over 40 acres, contains 2,000 stalls, and accommodates over 1,200 dealers. It is opened only on Mondays. Much of it is under cover, but a lot is on tables in the parking lot area. Much of it reminds me of The Big Tent at Quartzsite, Arizona, with all kinds rv parts, same crinkly blouses they had and garlic trays, pots/pan demos, wallets, dvds, etc.
We went mostly for the fresh produce, which is plentiful here in Florida this time of year. In fact, the strawberries have just been available the last two weeks. I went crazy finding fresh vegetables in December. Jim was very indulgent of me and let me go wild.
Look at these photos of vendors. There were booths of potted plants - look at those hibiscus and flowering shrubs. Beautiful!!! And stalls of birds were very unique.
Those yellow globes are lemons not grapefruit. They are huge, aren't they? To the right of them are key limes - yellow, not green - which they use to make the wonderful Key Lime Pies. The vendor was selling those brown eggs for $1.50 a dozen.
This will give you an idea of just how big those lemons are. I made lemonade out of it using a recipe that my friend, Judy Baillee, had given us many years ago in Alamosa. I only needed to just half the lemon (usually use two) along with a coupe of the Honeybell oranges, 1/2 cup sugar and a quart of water. Oh, it was so delicious.
This vendor had sugar cane - fresh cut - for $1 a stalk. I remember eating sections of sugar cane when I was a kid living in Florida. You peeled off the outer bark and chomped down on the fibers and squeezed out the sweet liquid.
Here is the haul I bought. From left to right there are Honeybell oranges (only available one month a year, I think), broccoli sprouts, corn in the back, beef steak tomatoes, strawberries, asparagus, baby bok choy, egg plant, red peppers, a lemon, with zuccini, yellow squash, and garlic bulbs in front. All this for $16. The other night we barbequed chicken and Jim grilled some bok choy and broccoli sprouts for me. We also steamed some of the 2 1/2 pounds of asparagus ($3 can you believe). Then we had sweetened strawberries for dessert. They sold flats of strawberries for $5. Eating so much fresh vegetables in December was a real treat. Hope I can eat it all this week so I can buy more next Monday - going to emphasize more fruits next week.
That's it for now friends and family.....more soon. Remember, you are loved!
Beautiful stuff! And here I thought my eight red grapefruit for $1.00 the other day was a steal.
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