Best of 2001: Best Farmers' Market

Uptown Farmers' Market
DMV parking lot, 3960 Normal Street, Hillcrest
Sundays, 9:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

A Sunday-morning outing extraordinaire, Uptown Farmers' Market offers a large and eclectic mix of crops and goods. Stalls are abundantly stocked with organic produce, breads, pastries, pies, bagels, gourmet or low-cal tamales, olives, candied nuts, and cheap cut flowers of every kind. Nonedible items for sale include potted bamboo, mirrors from Morocco, Eastern European reverse paintings on glass, and exotic birds. Two ladies sell nothing but pesto sauces, including low-cal versions substituting lemon or lime juice for olive oil. Taste-testing is encouraged -- sample gigantic Oro Gold grapefruit, blood oranges, mangoes, persimmons, and dried fruit, or chomp on a cherimoya. Tease your taste buds with the garlicky jolt of various hummus spreads, piquant salsas, smoked tuna, or fresh tortillas made while you wait. Squeeze cantaloupes to live music played by a small, rustic band, and lollygag through the crowd, minding the fallen fruit, and taking a last whiff of tuberose or pineapple mint before you head home.