Things I Learned at Farmer's Market 7/15/2010
The Honey Man at the market says he sells way more honey there than he ever did when he sold it through the Dillons stores.
The first time he was at market was the final day of the season, and it was cold and disagreeable weather. He came bundled up and figured no one would even see him, let alone buy his honey. However, in a matter of a few hours he had sold more honey than he did in a month at Dillons.
A lot of his customers buy honey to help with their allergies. In my opinion, that's a good reason to buy local honey. All the area's pollens come predigested, and are rendered innocuous, and the process somehow seems to confer some immunity against further reactions to air-borne pollen.
Bill, the honey man, says the best thing though about selling honey at the market is being able to see all the people. I've noticed he loves to visit with all kinds of folks.
************************
The young vendor across the aisle gave Hiromi an update on his relationship with his estranged girlfriend. It's been a rocky road, of late. Later on, he announced "I don't believe in getting married. That causes lots of problems."
"Oh no. That's when the good part starts," I said. I meant that when there is a lasting commitment to each other, a lot of what goes wrong in a trial live-in relationship is remedied. I doubt that he understood any of that, and I probably should have saved my breath.
************************
Julie told me she's heard that you have to show up in a certain place five times before people begin to expect to see you there. She was referring to how it is to be a relative newcomer at Farmer's Market, and the patience required at the beginning.
Although we've been regular vendors at the Saturday market, we've usually not come for the Wednesday market, so we are a little new to that crowd. I hope that's the explanation for the poor flower sales. I had an abundance of nice flowers, but a shortage of purchasers.
***********************
Earl had really nice Kansas-grown blackberries. I didn't ask him where he got them, and I don't know of any berry farms except one near Lawrence that I toured many years ago.
************************
Several ladies across the aisle were giving away samples of a very green blended concoction of fruits and vegetables. I'm still sorry I was too chicken to try it. It had apple juice, banana, peach, Swiss chard and kale. (You thought it sounded good till you got to the end of the list, right?)
I have a hard time getting my mind around the idea of combining leafy greens and fruits, but it's probably better than I think it would be.
Bob, the market manager, said his wife recently blended beets, carrots, onions, and a few other things I don't recall. "It's good for you if you can stand it," he said.
************************
The heat index was a sweltering 110 degrees, with actual temperatures around 100. Everyone drank lots of fluids and several ladies down the line did a lot of hand fanning. A breeze helped, but moving around 100-degree air can have only a minimal cooling effect.
The prospects for Saturday don't look any better. I overheard someone say it's predicted to be the hottest day of the summer. That prediction seems a little rash since we don't know how hot it will be in the future, but it's fairly consistent with what I've heard about the heat peak for the summer usually occurring about a month after the summer solstice.
Everyone looked a little limp and damp and sticky.
************************
Harvey brought the first local cantaloupe of the season yesterday.
He's telling people that this is the last year he plans to grow produce to sell. We'll miss him, but he's in his upper 70's and that's old enough for a person to quit if he wants to.
***********************
The parade of people who know Hiromi keep coming by our market stand. Yesterday it was two lady doctors he recognized from having worked at the hospital for years. Another was the father of an old unofficial girlfriend.(!) Still another was someone he worked with at the KPL power plant years ago. "You've got a good man there," he told me. He also said, "We loved when he came to work. We couldn't wait to see what he'd do or say." They talked about some of Hiromi's anti-dog measures while he was a meter reader. One of them wasn't approved by his supervisor. I can only imagine . . . Hiromi is not given to moderation in such matters. I knew about the chain belt he wore as a weapon in disguise, but I didn't know about _____________, and now you won't know about it either.
**********************
One lady told us that she was growing tomatoes at home the way her parents used to grow them. They filled a trough (it sounded like a small watering tank for livestock) with hay, and then dug holes into it and filled them will soil. Into each soil pocket, they planted one tomato plant. Her parents had good luck with this method, but the lady talking to us hadn't had any blossoms set fruit yet, and she was dismayed.
**********************
One lady who stopped by our booth was on her way to buy flowers to take to a funeral home. She loved my flowers and would have bought them from me if I had had a a way to put together a larger arrangement than the ones I usually do. I regretted not having had the foresight to take along at least one really big vase for just such occasions. I had plenty of flowers, but nothing suitable to put them in. Bummer.
***********************
No one was selling sweet corn yesterday. We've had only one meal, and hope for more.
************************
We sold about 40 lbs. of tomatoes for $2.50/lb. I'm glad we had buyers, but I'm afraid I wouldn't pay $3.00 for one tomato as someone did last Saturday.
Can you tell Hiromi's proud of his tomatoes--and confident that everyone will be as impressed with them as he is?
The first time he was at market was the final day of the season, and it was cold and disagreeable weather. He came bundled up and figured no one would even see him, let alone buy his honey. However, in a matter of a few hours he had sold more honey than he did in a month at Dillons.
A lot of his customers buy honey to help with their allergies. In my opinion, that's a good reason to buy local honey. All the area's pollens come predigested, and are rendered innocuous, and the process somehow seems to confer some immunity against further reactions to air-borne pollen.
Bill, the honey man, says the best thing though about selling honey at the market is being able to see all the people. I've noticed he loves to visit with all kinds of folks.
************************
The young vendor across the aisle gave Hiromi an update on his relationship with his estranged girlfriend. It's been a rocky road, of late. Later on, he announced "I don't believe in getting married. That causes lots of problems."
"Oh no. That's when the good part starts," I said. I meant that when there is a lasting commitment to each other, a lot of what goes wrong in a trial live-in relationship is remedied. I doubt that he understood any of that, and I probably should have saved my breath.
************************
Julie told me she's heard that you have to show up in a certain place five times before people begin to expect to see you there. She was referring to how it is to be a relative newcomer at Farmer's Market, and the patience required at the beginning.
Although we've been regular vendors at the Saturday market, we've usually not come for the Wednesday market, so we are a little new to that crowd. I hope that's the explanation for the poor flower sales. I had an abundance of nice flowers, but a shortage of purchasers.
***********************
Earl had really nice Kansas-grown blackberries. I didn't ask him where he got them, and I don't know of any berry farms except one near Lawrence that I toured many years ago.
************************
Several ladies across the aisle were giving away samples of a very green blended concoction of fruits and vegetables. I'm still sorry I was too chicken to try it. It had apple juice, banana, peach, Swiss chard and kale. (You thought it sounded good till you got to the end of the list, right?)
I have a hard time getting my mind around the idea of combining leafy greens and fruits, but it's probably better than I think it would be.
Bob, the market manager, said his wife recently blended beets, carrots, onions, and a few other things I don't recall. "It's good for you if you can stand it," he said.
************************
The heat index was a sweltering 110 degrees, with actual temperatures around 100. Everyone drank lots of fluids and several ladies down the line did a lot of hand fanning. A breeze helped, but moving around 100-degree air can have only a minimal cooling effect.
The prospects for Saturday don't look any better. I overheard someone say it's predicted to be the hottest day of the summer. That prediction seems a little rash since we don't know how hot it will be in the future, but it's fairly consistent with what I've heard about the heat peak for the summer usually occurring about a month after the summer solstice.
Everyone looked a little limp and damp and sticky.
************************
Harvey brought the first local cantaloupe of the season yesterday.
He's telling people that this is the last year he plans to grow produce to sell. We'll miss him, but he's in his upper 70's and that's old enough for a person to quit if he wants to.
***********************
The parade of people who know Hiromi keep coming by our market stand. Yesterday it was two lady doctors he recognized from having worked at the hospital for years. Another was the father of an old unofficial girlfriend.(!) Still another was someone he worked with at the KPL power plant years ago. "You've got a good man there," he told me. He also said, "We loved when he came to work. We couldn't wait to see what he'd do or say." They talked about some of Hiromi's anti-dog measures while he was a meter reader. One of them wasn't approved by his supervisor. I can only imagine . . . Hiromi is not given to moderation in such matters. I knew about the chain belt he wore as a weapon in disguise, but I didn't know about _____________, and now you won't know about it either.
**********************
One lady told us that she was growing tomatoes at home the way her parents used to grow them. They filled a trough (it sounded like a small watering tank for livestock) with hay, and then dug holes into it and filled them will soil. Into each soil pocket, they planted one tomato plant. Her parents had good luck with this method, but the lady talking to us hadn't had any blossoms set fruit yet, and she was dismayed.
**********************
One lady who stopped by our booth was on her way to buy flowers to take to a funeral home. She loved my flowers and would have bought them from me if I had had a a way to put together a larger arrangement than the ones I usually do. I regretted not having had the foresight to take along at least one really big vase for just such occasions. I had plenty of flowers, but nothing suitable to put them in. Bummer.
***********************
No one was selling sweet corn yesterday. We've had only one meal, and hope for more.
************************
We sold about 40 lbs. of tomatoes for $2.50/lb. I'm glad we had buyers, but I'm afraid I wouldn't pay $3.00 for one tomato as someone did last Saturday.
Can you tell Hiromi's proud of his tomatoes--and confident that everyone will be as impressed with them as he is?
posted by Mrs. I at
11:47 AM
1 Comments:
The green stuff? Very good if it is sweetened enough. And yes, very good for you. The beet stuff, well, very good for you but I do not like it as well. I finally worked un=p the nerve to try some this very morning. "the(eletric) pig" got most of it. However, my 2 year old thought his "moovie" (smoothie) was "pretty cool". Otherwise known as very pink!
By
Jessica, at 7/17/2010
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