last farmer's market of the season

This Saturday felt like one of those wonderful and tragic days, like graduation, when a good thing comes to an end, and you celebrate the good thing but wonder how life will go from here. It was the last Evanston market of the season.
Last Saturday, i had driven to the market because i had other errands to run too, and i had bought more than usual and started stockpiling (squash, potatoes, garlic), but i knew i needed to go big this week too. i didn't want to drive, because that feels so cheap (the market is about a mile away from my house), so i pulled out my rock-climbing backpack (a Deuter mountaineering backpack, about 4 feet tall but only a little over a foot in diameter) and jumped on my bike, arriving at the market around 9 a.m. - i had missed out last week, not arriving until 11, when the Mutsus were sold out! i went immediately to the apple people that i always buy from, and my Mutsu friend was excited to see me - she calls me "my Mutsu girl!" - and i bought a big bag of them, with her usual bonus apple (payment for loyalty) thrown in. she regaled me with tales of her crazy coworkers (Mexicanos, all of them) and the boys looked bashful.
after apples, i picked up onions, garlic (10 heads for $5! not bad), spaghetti squash (i've never had it before, and i felt adventurous), bell peppers, sweet potatoes, and cabbages. i bought until my pack was full. i had wanted to get more apple cider (i bought some last week), but i didn't fancy carrying it home. as it was, it was a tough bike ride home, with 40 or 50 pounds of vegetables on my back. i felt extravagant, but then i felt great when i got home and put them away and looked at my little stockpile for late fall and winter. especially now that i am thinking more and more about the importance of buying locally grown food.
so far, from the produce i bought, i have only used a bell pepper and a head of cabbage - although the cabbage doesn't quite count, because 'use' here means 'processing so it lasts longer,' i.e., sauerkraut. i hope i did it right. there's lots of salt involved. it's quite briny right now. i sort of guessed on the saltiness, and i hope i didn't ruin it. but hey, you never know if you can do something until you try to do it. my next experiment will be yogurt. i'm even more nervous about that one, though.