A true citizen of Alytis will not celebrate Easter without visiting the market. And I, like that daisy, rolled around the Alytus markets in the warm wind, gathering the freshest news for the readers of AlytusPlius.lt. Exciting news – the wildflower season started on the eve of Easter.
Audronė margučiai – for admiring and giving
Queen of Marigolds Audronė Lampickienė with her sculptor husband Saulius visited the Alytus Jasmine market and bought a rustic chicken for Easter – neither to feed nor to raise, but there will be something to put on the table. For a kilogram of chicken, the artists paid 5 euros each.
In turn, the folk artist Audronė pampered the people of Aly with daisies – what a pleasure it is to choose the most beautiful one yourself. Audronė margutis – 10 euros. By the way, no one can repeat her colors and patterns, the works of the titled author can be seen in museums and exhibitions, and a book has been published about the traditions of printing and her quirks.
The talented family of folk artists Audronė and Saulius Lampickė delights the people of Aly with their works at exhibitions and fairs every year, and reveals the intricacies of their work in various training sessions. When they appear, there is a celebration in the market.
Beautifully decorated eggs were brought to the market by Zita Saulėnienė from Alytsia. Her Easter is 1-3 euros.
Zita Saulėnienė, the author of the beautiful Easter, is waiting for buyers in Jazminų market.
Violeta Motiejūnienė, from Alytsia, lined up a dozen Easter bobs, and maybe also dzieds, on the counter. Handmade thick boba – 15, thinner – 12 euros. Gold-armed Easter boba with a magical charge in the belly – a bottle. Only its contents must be taken care of by the buyer himself: he wants gray birch sap, he wants deaf tears.
I was saddened when I remembered the cornflower from Dzūki: even for medicine you have to look for it with a light. People say that overzealous officials have wiped out the underworld masters and Dzuk heritage. So, with the question, how much does a pint of Dzukka rye now cost, I walked around the markets of Alytus as if I had been hit by a sack – what is that correspondent asking?!
Only one serious connoisseur spoke up: you can get a pint of house wine for 4 euros, and a pint of cikra dzūki rye for 6 euros. Only an expert can tell if it is a zikra.
I calmed down: instead of searching, taking risks, birch sap is also good in the middle of Easter beans.
Violeta Motiejūnienė and her handmade Easter boba with a magical charge – on request.
For holidays – meat, sausages and cakes
After visiting the Jasmine market, we will definitely “recover” during Easter. On the lower floor of the courtyard pavilion, I traditionally looked at the turkeys of Romuald and Birutė Launikonis – turkeys fed with their own crushed grain are extremely popular – a huge queue. In the countryside, chickens are smoked in a barrel, they are carried in bags, and there is a line of buyers. At the end of the market, the stalls of better goods are emptied. And proverbs teach: early – tooth, late – eye.
A calmer environment in the meat pavilion: a kilogram of pork ham – 6, neck – 7.7, sirloin with bacon – 6.5, sirloin – 3.7 euros.
For Easter, they buy less bacon, so the pensioners did not miss fresh thin bacon, 2 euros per kilogram.
The price of salted and smoked bacon has equalized, EUR 8.9 per kilogram.
Sausages tempt with their delicious aromas: a kilogram of real country sausage – 10.9 euros, garlic country sausage – 12.5 euros. I think looking at the stacks of sausages and the cat would turn its tail.
In the meat pavilion of the Jazminų market, saleswoman Laura has piled up a mountain of Dzūki sausages for the holidays.
There is a lot of bread and cakes in the market, but during the holidays, the housewives’ own baked goods are more appreciated.
Vilija from Alytis tried the Balbieriškis baker’s fork at Jazminų market – she couldn’t bake such delicious things herself.
Vilija from Alytis came back from Jazminai market on a wheelbarrow.
Hedge queens surpass all greens with their treasures
Our onion leaves, plus imported greens, vegetables and berries made the markets very spring-like. At the Jotvingiai market, I learned that smidgen shoots are very good for the heart, they have a lot of potassium.
All the greens are overtaken by the nettles of the queen of the wall, which get the most sick out of bed. Dzuks are especially fond of nettle soup. A basket of spring healers – 80 cents.
“Village nettles are not from the city,” praised farmer Eimantas Bakšys, who brought nettles, potatoes, winter potatoes, beets, carrots, heads of cabbage and other goodies and birch sap to the Jotvingia market for 1 euro per liter.
Jotvingiai market seller Gabija gave her beloved four-year-old Beke a fashionable hairstyle for the holiday, for which she paid 20 euros. Do you know how much such a hairstyle would cost in the capital?
A kilogram of Polish cucumbers, Greek strawberries – 5 euros.
I asked at the Jotvingiai market what the Birštonas municipality farmer Valdas Mockevičius buys to improve the land on Thursdays. White-flowered and yellow-flowered lupine seeds – 1.5 and 2.5 euros per kg. Vicky and mustard, 1 kg 1 and 3 euros. A kilogram of oil radish seeds – 3 euros.
At the Jotvingiai market on Thursday, the goods of Valdas Mockevičius, a farmer from the Birštonas region, are for health and improving the land.
Smidra shoots are a source of potassium for the heart.
In the markets of Alytus, a kilogram of Greek strawberries costs 5 euros.
Let me remind you that at the Kaniūki market, the dzuks sell grains, a bag (50 kg) of barley and wheat for 10 euros, 40 kg of oats for 8 euros, and vegetable seeds. There are laying hens, 10 euros each, rabbits, household goods. According to market owner Gintas Sabonis, there will be surprises in Kaniūkai this Saturday.
Orphans were the first to rush to Jazminai market
Jotvingiai market is first decorated with wild flowers. This year it was overtaken by Jazminai: the most beautiful carpet of orphans, swaying strawberries with blossoms and alums was fixed by Ilona Zenkevičienė, a florist from the village of Panemuninkėliai.
Greenhouse orphans are already accustomed to outdoor conditions, they are not afraid of frost, a seedling costs 90 cents. Swinging strawberries, alums – 5-6 euros.
The wildflower season has begun at the Jasmine Market. Its founder is Ilona Zenkevičienė, a florist from the village of Panemuninkėliai. The wildflowers grown by her will delight customers until late autumn.
An orphan’s ring pressed on Easter looks very nice. By the way, how many eggs do you eat during the holidays? In the markets of Alytus, ten chicken eggs – 2.5 euros, duck eggs – 3.5 euros. Ten turkey eggs – 8-10 euros.
“How much does a goose egg cost – I won’t tell you, my wife has already put them in the incubator”, Dainius Makštutis, the owner of the organic farm in the Alytus region, shared the good spring news – he raises a huge flock of geese every year.
