Growing Like A Garden
In many ways, the market is similar to our gardens and summer season – things start off slow, a sprout of a plant, a blossom, the start of a cucumber on the vine- and it gets us excited and filled with anticipation of all the goodness the garden will soon yield. As we grow impatient from waiting for things to ripen, we turn around for one moment, and then suddenly, there are green beans to pick, lettuce to harvest, and strawberries to enjoy. It’s the same with our market; the first weeks seem to start slowly as, one by one, the vendors return and the booths get full. We arrive one weekend and find the Market area packed with our vendors and their booths teeming with delicious foods and artisanal products, and we leave the market with our market bags filled to the brim.
This market season has been feeling especially slow to start because I knew we needed to have freshly baked bread and pastries at the market. Tomorrow, we will be welcoming two new vendors, Hoffman Bread’s with their organic naturally fermented sourdough bread, pastries & croissants, and Irene’s Homemade, with jams, pastries, cookies, and all other sorts of sweet delights. Hoffman Bread’s plans on being at the market each week through the end of the season. Irene’s Homemade won’t be at the market every week, she will be there every 2nd or 3rd week throughout the season. In addition to her traditional pastries offerings, he will be providing gluten-free baked goods as well. That means there should be something for us all to enjoy with our coffee as we walk from booth to booth, buying our meats, dairy, fruits, vegetables, and more.
Speaking of vegetables, you might have seen our post but plan on seeing the Judson Farm Produce van pulling into the lot Saturday morning and unloading their farm fresh products. The wait is over, and their fields are ready to fill our tables with exceptional greens, fruits, vegetables, and plants for another season.
With Father’s Day Sunday, don’t forget to pick up the goods for a barbeque. Everything from grilling meats to fresh greens and deserts can be found at this week’s market. Or perhaps you're celebrating Juneteenth, and you want to prepare a special meal. Actually, I don’t think you really need a reason at all to come by the market and find something special and different to taste this week! But we do know that buying from the Farmers and Makers Market will certainly fill your celebrations with delicious, high-quality foods to enjoy!
My heartfelt appreciation to all of you who support us, and I speak for the vendors when I say thank you. As I say, without all of you, we’re just some people setting up tents in a parking lot. See you tomorrow, rain or shine…
Greg
Market Manager