The local farmer's market, known as the Tabo in Dumaguete, is where people go to if they want to buy fruits,vegetables, and other produce straight from the farmer's themselves. Dumaguete has a public market, but there is something more appealing to this smaller market which is just a few miles from our house. Farmer's markets are smaller, not as crowded as the bigger public market, and you are buying your fruits and veggies straight from the people who grow them. This is a great way to encourage smaller farmers in the city to keep on planting and producing, since when we get what we eat from them, we can be sure that what we're eating was picked a day or two ago, compared to buying the same stuff from the bigger supermarkets which probably gets its produce from distant locations like Baguio or any other place across the country.
The Tabo opens on Wednesdays and on Saturdays. It rained last night, so the ground was wet when I got there. During sunnier days the market is usually fine to walk around in without having to worry about slipping on wet rocks or mud, but this time I had to look where I was going in order to avoid slipping or bumping into fellow shoppers. Despite the rain, business was brisk. People were coming and going, and the farmers were quite happy with today's turnout.
And the colors were wonderful! Green Indian mangos going for 20 per kilo, slices of ripe, yellow quash, and the strange pink of the dragonfruit are just a few of the colorful produce laid out on the stalls here. I got myself two heads of lettuce for 20 pesos each, and three fat cucumbers along with one piece of succulent singkamas for the salad that I had planned for lunch. All were fresh and none were wrapped in that clingfilm that grocery store fruits always come in. The smudges of dirt on my singkamas were welcome imperfections, even, since I knew that my seller picked her singkamas just this morning.
