Empire apples from Wasem Fruit Farm.

Jessica Webster | AnnArbor.com

It feels so good to work downtown again! I stopped by the Farmers Market this morning to check out the great fall produce. I think it's at the Farmers Market where I feel most like a part of a great little community.

My first stop was Zingerman's Next Door for double cappuccino (more on that in a later post) and some prime Ann Arbor eavesdropping. I sat next to two out-of-town movie people (scouts?) discussing scripts, budgets, whether Michael Vartan is over the hill (they say he is) and the difficulty of finding a sublet for a month. It's fascinating to find bits of Hollywood showing up in our fair city.

Fall squashes are in abundance at the market this week, as are apples and grapes. I might pick up some Concord grapes on Saturday and try my hand at jam making. You can still pick up on the last of the tomato harvest if you, like me, lost your own garden tomatoes to the dreaded late blight.

I had a nice talk with Jan from Wasem Fruit Farm about the best apples for pie baking. Wasem offers 14 different varieties of apples at the market, but Jan recommends the Jonathan, Ida Reds and Spies for pies. I took home a half peck of Empire reds for my son's lunches.

Squash from Shetler's Organic Farm in Homer

Jessica Webster | AnnArbor.com

Before heading back to the office I spent some time talking to Manchester's Our Family Farm about chicken farming. They've got 800 free-range hens on their farm. I'm going to try to get them to write a little bit about their farming experiences. With the chicken-raising fervor that has hit Ann Arbor of late, it would be interesting to hear the perspective of a family who has been doing it for generations.

So now I head home and try to figure out what to do with this beautiful spaghetti squash, my free-range organic eggs, and my apples. Maybe Peggy Lampman can post a recipe for me. See you on the streets!

Jessica Webster is a member of AnnArbor.com's community team. She writes about (and eats a lot of) food. You can also find her on the radio at WEMU-FM. Jessica can be found in the AnnArbor.com main floor offices, or you can e-mail her at JessicaWebster@AnnArbor.com. Want to write about food? Drop me a line!