Farmer's Market--6/18/2011
The Farmer's Market team in our stall today was Shane and me instead of Hiromi and me. Shane had a free Saturday for the first time since market started, and he wanted to have a chance to be on-site for selling his naturally raised pork.
Hiromi was very happy to have a morning at home to make more tomato cages--something that's becoming urgent now that the tomato plants are suddenly putting on lots of growth. The task, however, was not urgent enough to rouse Hiromi at 5:00 when I got up, or even at 6:30 when I left the house. I'll spare you the details on his actual rising time. Suffice it to say that I think he enjoyed a fairly leisurely start to the day--although not excessively so by high school age standards.
Shane proved to be a good salesman. Or maybe our earlier sales have begun to pay off, with repeat customers coming back with reports of how good the first purchase tasted. One person who bought pork today came back later this morning and said he'd already eaten some of the sausage and wanted more. Shane sold more than twice as much pork as any previous day's sales. He also made a good contact with the chef at Wilder's and with several other people who placed orders. He referred others to either Caleb or Levi when people wanted to buy whole hogs.
A parade of people came by who learned to know Hiromi in the work world: Don, the Quality Control guy at TSW, Mary, who says she used to snap the suspenders on his back brace at TSW, Amanda, the person who hired Hiromi at Wal-Mart ("Are you Hiromi's family? He's a great guy. I didn't know he did this too.")
On this second KWBW "Live at the Market" broadcast, Ron (market board chairman) asked me, impromptu, to tell everyone about the chard on my table, so I spun a yarn about chard in general and our chard in particular. "It's one of the cooking greens that grows reasonably well in hot weather, unlike spinach. Common varieties have a white rib, but ours is a variety called 'Bright Lights,' and the ribs and veins come in wonderful bright colors like magenta, red, orange, and yellow."
I recognized the Lebanese chef and restaurant owner who purchased a big grocery bag full of chard. He told Shane he uses it in Lebanese food as a wrap, instead of grape leaves. Another person told us they use it as a wrap too.
The one person who buys chard (shard, he calls it) every week brought us pictures of it today. He told us he got some new photography equipment, and we were his guinea pigs. He had a picture of us in our market stall, and two pictures of the chard in his hand at home by the kitchen sink. "I told my wife it's as pretty as a picture, so I took a picture of it."
Shane talked about his pork into the radio microphone when Ron stuck it under his nose. I didn't hear much of what he said.
Marcos, from KC, came by and purchased several kinds of pork. He said he has family in the area and visits often. He promised to come back for more pork.
All morning at market I saw the Mennonite church youth group across the aisle selling baked goods to raise money for a trip to Pittsburg to the Mennonite conference. I suddenly had a jolt of inspiration. Anthony was there, and I knew his mother, Jane (Eldon's Egyptian wife) bakes wonderful Middle-eastern breads. Maybe she had baked some for the sale. So I walked over there and asked him if they were selling any of his mom's bread. "Over there," he pointed. I bought three loaves--the Focaccia, the Greek bread, and the Russian Rye bread.
At lunch we ate the Focaccia with lasagna and stir-fried zucchini-summer squash-onion Italian herb flavored veggies. I put pesto sauce on the Focaccia and topped it with a slice of fresh tomato I bought from Roman at market. We had cucumbers--also from Roman's garden-- in the Asian vinegar/soy sauce dressing we're so very fond of. It was a feast of summer.
*************************
"She is the most indecisive person I've ever met," was Shane's comment about one customer today. I knew instantly which customer he was talking about. She comes often and often buys something. She's a pleasant lady, and I feel some kinship with her. "There but for the grace of God go I" is what I usually think.
She is the quintessential ADD lady--interested in a lot of different things and apparently quite good at some of them. But she has a poor memory (forgets to bring her money or forgets to pick up her purse from the table after she's paid for produce, or leaves her produce behind), neglects to plan ahead (buys a big bouquet of sunflowers to take to her friend and then realizes she has no way to keep the vase from falling over in her car on the way over there). And she has a typically bemused and a bit detached expression when she talks to you.
I wish for her some of the support systems that have been helpful for me. I have a clear-thinking, organized husband whose ways I've learned from. She is apparently single. I've been hearing Flylady's "voice" for years, and know now that perfectionism is more vice than virtue--for ADD people, at least, who see all at once the different ways to be more nearly perfect and feel overwhelmed and too paralyzed to pursue any of them--hence, the indecision. Years of meeting classroom requirements has forced some discipline on my scattered thinking. Good food supplements and nutritious food and access to good medical care (recent bad experience excepted) help my brain work as well as can be expected.
**************************
Last week on my way home from market I saw the cross-dresser who often bikes along West Fourth street. When I saw him he was getting on his bike--in a little black dress and spiky-heeled red shoes. I often wonder what his life was and is like.
*************************
North of us, someone is putting in a basement in a spot in Tim Ayers' field. A number of weeks ago a driveway was installed and stakes seemed to mark the location of a building site. I still haven' t heard whose house this is to be.
*************************
We had about .3 inches of rain both of the past two nights, amid dire warnings of large hail, high winds, and heavy rain. It was fairly windy and we had a peppering of small hail, but the worst of the thunderstorms apparently happened elsewhere. These rains are so very welcome, for everyone except perhaps those who have wheat left to harvest. Every night it rains is one more day to not have to water the garden. We have rain chances again tonight and for the next two nights, as well.
*************************
The "mother" of Gene and Amy's house came by and talked today. She said she has seen the house "75,000 times" but within the next few days her husband is going to see it for the first time since it was moved. It was at our market stand when we first heard from her of the availability of this house several years ago. Twila read about it on this blog and urged her son Gene to check into it. By a very circuitous route, Gene eventually became the owner, and the house has become a home for his family.
Her husband David worked with my father David years ago when Dad took a winter job at the salt plant in Hutchinson. She told us today that the other David envied my dad who was much taller than he, and the bags of salt that dropped down onto shoulders to be carried didn't seem to drop as far or as hard on a tall man's shoulders as on a short man's . I remember that my dad had sore shoulders though after a few days of working there.
***********************
I've thought often recently of Shirley Y., who used to live in Delaware, but attended high school in Lancaster, PA. She now lives in Stuarts Draft, VA, I think. She was a high school friend of Susie, my friend and co-teacher/housemate in OH.
At one point she sang with the Rosedale Chorale, and a seamstress who sewed identical outfits for all the ladies in the group did a really neat job of incorporating a cape in Shirley's dress, even though all the dresses were designed without a waistline, and most of them were without capes. There was no cape waistline either. In other words, the front cape piece was the same piece as what formed the front of the skirt. I keep wondering how she did it. I wonder if Shirley knows, or if anyone has such a pattern. I'd love to see how it's done. My design skills are inadequate for creating such a pattern.
I'd be glad to hear from anyone who has a clue.
**********************
Hiromi just now called from Merle's place. He had a flat tire on his way to work and changed it out for the doughnut. He was one minute late for work. The doughnut went flat on his way home.
The best thing about going after him tonight was seeing the lightening show in the east on the way over there. A smaller show was in progress in the west on the way home. Prospects look fairly good for another rain tonight. We're still feeling blessed every time rain comes our way.
**********************
Grant says that this year the wheat crop was by far better for "poor farmers" who planted their dry land wheat late and didn't fertilize than for people who did everything right by the books. Somehow the little moisture that arrived caught this wheat in a good stage for producing well. The rain that arrived just before harvest helped it fill out. Fertilized wheat had little chance to put its nitrogen to use earlier, without moisture. It was "all dressed up, with no place to go."
I've heard of yields up to 50 bushels to the acre for some non-irrigated fields that had very little rain. Other fields nearby made only 10 to 20 bushels to the acre. Prices are high, so every bushel is valuable.
**********************
When I went to Lizzie's house to pick up rhubarb, she told me tales of how their house used to be. It was uninsulated, and terribly cold in the winter. The water in the reservoir on the woodstove sometimes froze overnight. It was worst the year that the house was jacked up in preparation for being replaced by a house that was to be moved from Burton. The house began its journey in November, along a road still being built. It was finished as far as "the river" so the house went that far, and then was parked while the road (presumably also a bridge) was getting finished. It was February, 1952, before that happened and the house finally arrived, so it was a long, cold winter.
Lizzie also told me that she had fallen earlier this week. She didn't volunteer this information till I asked what happened to her eye, which was obviously bruised. She was all alone, as usual, and was coming in from shutting up the sheep for the night and checking on a kitten she heard meowing around the corner of the house. She fell on the steps into the house and hit her face on the door jamb, if I understood her right.
I worry about what would happen if she fell and was too seriously injured to get up. I'm sure other people who care about her are thinking about this too. Some kind of mobile summoning system she could wear easily and comfortably would seem ideal.
Hiromi was very happy to have a morning at home to make more tomato cages--something that's becoming urgent now that the tomato plants are suddenly putting on lots of growth. The task, however, was not urgent enough to rouse Hiromi at 5:00 when I got up, or even at 6:30 when I left the house. I'll spare you the details on his actual rising time. Suffice it to say that I think he enjoyed a fairly leisurely start to the day--although not excessively so by high school age standards.
Shane proved to be a good salesman. Or maybe our earlier sales have begun to pay off, with repeat customers coming back with reports of how good the first purchase tasted. One person who bought pork today came back later this morning and said he'd already eaten some of the sausage and wanted more. Shane sold more than twice as much pork as any previous day's sales. He also made a good contact with the chef at Wilder's and with several other people who placed orders. He referred others to either Caleb or Levi when people wanted to buy whole hogs.
A parade of people came by who learned to know Hiromi in the work world: Don, the Quality Control guy at TSW, Mary, who says she used to snap the suspenders on his back brace at TSW, Amanda, the person who hired Hiromi at Wal-Mart ("Are you Hiromi's family? He's a great guy. I didn't know he did this too.")
On this second KWBW "Live at the Market" broadcast, Ron (market board chairman) asked me, impromptu, to tell everyone about the chard on my table, so I spun a yarn about chard in general and our chard in particular. "It's one of the cooking greens that grows reasonably well in hot weather, unlike spinach. Common varieties have a white rib, but ours is a variety called 'Bright Lights,' and the ribs and veins come in wonderful bright colors like magenta, red, orange, and yellow."
I recognized the Lebanese chef and restaurant owner who purchased a big grocery bag full of chard. He told Shane he uses it in Lebanese food as a wrap, instead of grape leaves. Another person told us they use it as a wrap too.
The one person who buys chard (shard, he calls it) every week brought us pictures of it today. He told us he got some new photography equipment, and we were his guinea pigs. He had a picture of us in our market stall, and two pictures of the chard in his hand at home by the kitchen sink. "I told my wife it's as pretty as a picture, so I took a picture of it."
Shane talked about his pork into the radio microphone when Ron stuck it under his nose. I didn't hear much of what he said.
Marcos, from KC, came by and purchased several kinds of pork. He said he has family in the area and visits often. He promised to come back for more pork.
All morning at market I saw the Mennonite church youth group across the aisle selling baked goods to raise money for a trip to Pittsburg to the Mennonite conference. I suddenly had a jolt of inspiration. Anthony was there, and I knew his mother, Jane (Eldon's Egyptian wife) bakes wonderful Middle-eastern breads. Maybe she had baked some for the sale. So I walked over there and asked him if they were selling any of his mom's bread. "Over there," he pointed. I bought three loaves--the Focaccia, the Greek bread, and the Russian Rye bread.
At lunch we ate the Focaccia with lasagna and stir-fried zucchini-summer squash-onion Italian herb flavored veggies. I put pesto sauce on the Focaccia and topped it with a slice of fresh tomato I bought from Roman at market. We had cucumbers--also from Roman's garden-- in the Asian vinegar/soy sauce dressing we're so very fond of. It was a feast of summer.
*************************
"She is the most indecisive person I've ever met," was Shane's comment about one customer today. I knew instantly which customer he was talking about. She comes often and often buys something. She's a pleasant lady, and I feel some kinship with her. "There but for the grace of God go I" is what I usually think.
She is the quintessential ADD lady--interested in a lot of different things and apparently quite good at some of them. But she has a poor memory (forgets to bring her money or forgets to pick up her purse from the table after she's paid for produce, or leaves her produce behind), neglects to plan ahead (buys a big bouquet of sunflowers to take to her friend and then realizes she has no way to keep the vase from falling over in her car on the way over there). And she has a typically bemused and a bit detached expression when she talks to you.
I wish for her some of the support systems that have been helpful for me. I have a clear-thinking, organized husband whose ways I've learned from. She is apparently single. I've been hearing Flylady's "voice" for years, and know now that perfectionism is more vice than virtue--for ADD people, at least, who see all at once the different ways to be more nearly perfect and feel overwhelmed and too paralyzed to pursue any of them--hence, the indecision. Years of meeting classroom requirements has forced some discipline on my scattered thinking. Good food supplements and nutritious food and access to good medical care (recent bad experience excepted) help my brain work as well as can be expected.
**************************
Last week on my way home from market I saw the cross-dresser who often bikes along West Fourth street. When I saw him he was getting on his bike--in a little black dress and spiky-heeled red shoes. I often wonder what his life was and is like.
*************************
North of us, someone is putting in a basement in a spot in Tim Ayers' field. A number of weeks ago a driveway was installed and stakes seemed to mark the location of a building site. I still haven' t heard whose house this is to be.
*************************
We had about .3 inches of rain both of the past two nights, amid dire warnings of large hail, high winds, and heavy rain. It was fairly windy and we had a peppering of small hail, but the worst of the thunderstorms apparently happened elsewhere. These rains are so very welcome, for everyone except perhaps those who have wheat left to harvest. Every night it rains is one more day to not have to water the garden. We have rain chances again tonight and for the next two nights, as well.
*************************
The "mother" of Gene and Amy's house came by and talked today. She said she has seen the house "75,000 times" but within the next few days her husband is going to see it for the first time since it was moved. It was at our market stand when we first heard from her of the availability of this house several years ago. Twila read about it on this blog and urged her son Gene to check into it. By a very circuitous route, Gene eventually became the owner, and the house has become a home for his family.
Her husband David worked with my father David years ago when Dad took a winter job at the salt plant in Hutchinson. She told us today that the other David envied my dad who was much taller than he, and the bags of salt that dropped down onto shoulders to be carried didn't seem to drop as far or as hard on a tall man's shoulders as on a short man's . I remember that my dad had sore shoulders though after a few days of working there.
***********************
I've thought often recently of Shirley Y., who used to live in Delaware, but attended high school in Lancaster, PA. She now lives in Stuarts Draft, VA, I think. She was a high school friend of Susie, my friend and co-teacher/housemate in OH.
At one point she sang with the Rosedale Chorale, and a seamstress who sewed identical outfits for all the ladies in the group did a really neat job of incorporating a cape in Shirley's dress, even though all the dresses were designed without a waistline, and most of them were without capes. There was no cape waistline either. In other words, the front cape piece was the same piece as what formed the front of the skirt. I keep wondering how she did it. I wonder if Shirley knows, or if anyone has such a pattern. I'd love to see how it's done. My design skills are inadequate for creating such a pattern.
I'd be glad to hear from anyone who has a clue.
**********************
Hiromi just now called from Merle's place. He had a flat tire on his way to work and changed it out for the doughnut. He was one minute late for work. The doughnut went flat on his way home.
The best thing about going after him tonight was seeing the lightening show in the east on the way over there. A smaller show was in progress in the west on the way home. Prospects look fairly good for another rain tonight. We're still feeling blessed every time rain comes our way.
**********************
Grant says that this year the wheat crop was by far better for "poor farmers" who planted their dry land wheat late and didn't fertilize than for people who did everything right by the books. Somehow the little moisture that arrived caught this wheat in a good stage for producing well. The rain that arrived just before harvest helped it fill out. Fertilized wheat had little chance to put its nitrogen to use earlier, without moisture. It was "all dressed up, with no place to go."
I've heard of yields up to 50 bushels to the acre for some non-irrigated fields that had very little rain. Other fields nearby made only 10 to 20 bushels to the acre. Prices are high, so every bushel is valuable.
**********************
When I went to Lizzie's house to pick up rhubarb, she told me tales of how their house used to be. It was uninsulated, and terribly cold in the winter. The water in the reservoir on the woodstove sometimes froze overnight. It was worst the year that the house was jacked up in preparation for being replaced by a house that was to be moved from Burton. The house began its journey in November, along a road still being built. It was finished as far as "the river" so the house went that far, and then was parked while the road (presumably also a bridge) was getting finished. It was February, 1952, before that happened and the house finally arrived, so it was a long, cold winter.
Lizzie also told me that she had fallen earlier this week. She didn't volunteer this information till I asked what happened to her eye, which was obviously bruised. She was all alone, as usual, and was coming in from shutting up the sheep for the night and checking on a kitten she heard meowing around the corner of the house. She fell on the steps into the house and hit her face on the door jamb, if I understood her right.
I worry about what would happen if she fell and was too seriously injured to get up. I'm sure other people who care about her are thinking about this too. Some kind of mobile summoning system she could wear easily and comfortably would seem ideal.
posted by Mrs. I at
7:19 PM
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