I've lived in my sleepy Midwest town all summer long and just realized the locals host a Farmer's Market each Wednesday. How exciting? I can't wait to tackle the aisles next week, especially now that I have these foolproof tips from Howcast!:

A few quick tips:

1) Walk around the entire market before buying anything. There's no sense in splurging for the $0.25 tomato when you can get six for a dollar from another vendor.

2) Never visit a farmer's market hungry! You wouldn't do it at the grocery, so don't do it at the market. Otherwise, you're likely to head home with bags of foods you'll never eat.

3) Try hitting the farmer's market late in the day. Vendors typically hate heading home with extra produce, so you're more likely to score a good deal on that pound of grapes. (Hint: If you want the best selection, visit the market early to avoid picked-over produce.)

Ready to tackle your local market? You'll be a produce connoisseur in no time...

Gardening by moonlight? No, it's not those times when night has long since fallen and you're planting your flat of pink impatiens by flashlight because you promised yourself you'd get it done today. (Yes, that was me a couple weeks ago.) Moonlight planting is actually the science of planting at very specific times according to the moon's phases.

Moonlight planting, its practitioners say, maximizes growth with a minimum of water waste. Here's how moonlight is thought to affects plants: Just as the tides change with the phases of the moon, so do the water levels inside plants and in the surface of the soil itself. If you plant when those water levels are at their highest, plants may grow faster and stronger.

So how do you know what to plant and when? Easy. Consult a moonlight planting schedule, such as this handy 2008 veggie planting table provided by The Old Farmer's Almanac.

Skeptical? Want to read more? UK newspaper, the Observer, reported on a 2007 moonlight planting experiment being carried out at eco-friendly Nymans Garden in West Sussex.

A new juice bar just opened in our neighborhood. They serve any blend of fruit and veggie juice that you could imagine. They use fresh, organic ingredients, and present the drink in a trendy, branded cup.

For this, you'll pay $5.50. Seriously, for blended carrots, I just can't.

Vegetable juices are popular on health detox and other cleanses, but they taste great too, and can be a healthy part of an everyday diet.

To make this carrot juice, you don't need a juicing machine; any food processor or blender will do just fine. You'll find more information after the break.

Is your toddler veggie challenged?

As parents of an almost two year old, we thought we were in the clear, considering the fact that her older sister would eat any vegetable we put in front of her. We had no problems getting cauliflower, beets, sweet potatoes and any other veggie into that hungry little tummy. Well, imagine our surprise when the younger one spits it all out and sends it across her tray and flying halfway across the room.

We have tried several ways to get her to eat her veggies and through hard work and experimentation, we have found some ideas that we are delighted with and some others we are going to try.