Produce Roundup: Reading Terminal Market

Early Peas at Kauffman's

Kauffman's peas and pods, berries and other spring produce

Along with the rhubarb, asparagus and strawberries Kauffman's Lancaster County Produce at the Reading Terminal Market unveiled the season's first English peas, sugar snap peas, and cucumbers.

Prices were dear on the peas: $7.99 on both the English peas in the pod and the sugar snaps. Ben Kauffman also had shelled English peas, which if I recall correctly were priced at $7.99 for what looked like a half-pint container. Ben says he does the shelling by hand, not machine. Also showing up this week at Kauffman's: beets, scallions, and radishes.

I would expect farmers' markets this week to also start displaying local peas.

Over at Iovine's the local strawberries were there, but hard to find. More prominently displayed were clamshell packs of California "stemberries" -- huge berries still showing stem -- at quite reasonable prices. If you want a strawberry as a centerpiece, this is for you, but even though the flavor is decent, they still can't compare with the locals.

The best bargain in local berries I've seen so far is at L. Halteman, which had pints for $3.29 and quarts for $5.79.