Things I Learned at Farmer's Market
I learned to snatch up every advertising opportunity, even if it means talking live on the radio, with only 30 minutes' warning. Our market board president told me at that time that we're starting regular live broadcasts from the market every Saturday morning at 8:30. I was one of several vendors he asked to talk about our products. By then we had sold out of all our vegetables (except a tiny amount of chard), so I talked about what we had brought, focusing especially on the pork. I also mentioned the flowers we plan to bring later and the great tasting tomatoes we plan to bring. Several customers we had later in the morning mentioned having heard about the pork on the radio.
*************************
Earl stopped by to talk. He's a savvy marketer, and advertises his produce on the "Royals" radio--probably at a time when the KC Royals are playing. He said he doesn't listen to talk radio from Hutch stations because he hates to listen to "the fat guy." I was scanning through my mental images of local radio personalities who had the specified physique when he clarified. The fat guy is Rush Limbaugh.
*************************
A woman came up to Earl while he was at our booth and started talking. The two of them evidently share a commitment to practicing some of their Native American traditions. There was talk of Sweat Lodges and a "Sweat" ("It should be a really strong sweat.") coming up soon on the farm where Earl's produce is grown. Oh my.
***********************
I met a small child who is little Otis' cousin--Jim and Lisa's grandson. The lovely little girl was dressed like a princess. Her grandmother, who used to be Hiromi's co-worker at TSW, explained that when she wants to dress like a princess, her grandmother lets her, even if she's just making a trip to the Farmer's Market.
***********************
I also met Tim, who grew up in Partridge. His sister, Charlene, was in my class in high school, and his mother still lives there. He bought some good pork, so I hope he'll be back.
**********************
Jim told us about a drum performance he saw recently in Salina. The drummers were Japanese, and the drums they used were carved from a single tree trunk. Some of the drums were huge. It is carpenters who make the drums--perhaps a somewhat specialized artistic function of carpentry. One of the performers comes from a family who has been making drums in Japan for more than 400 years. Beating these drums takes tremendous muscle power, and the drummers looked very fit. The "hammers" are huge, and the rhythm patterns are intricate and all memorized.
Several years ago at the state fair in Hutchinson, a Japanese group of drummers performed, and we were impressed then with many of the same things Jim talked about, although it seemed he had a chance to learn more about the history than we were told at that time.
*********************
We've had an uncommon streak of bad luck with getting our okra started this year. We started the plants in peat pots and had very few survivors after they were planted out. In desperation, we took soil from the okra beds and got it tested. The extension agent who interpreted the results stopped by our booth today and told us that our soil was fine. So the problem apparently lay elsewhere--maybe just in the cool spring weather we've had so far. We ordered more seeds (Stutzmans is out.) and are going to keep trying.
Last week Wichita had the earliest streak ever of six consecutive days with temperatures over 100 degrees, and our weather was like theirs--obviously a major departure from the earlier cool spring weather. So I'm thinking if it's not hot enough now for okra to thrive, it's never going to get that way.
Rosa N. did not think a crop failure of okra would be such a bad thing, apparently based on her likes and dislikes in vegetables. She was sorry though about her beans looking just as pathetic as our okra.
Hiromi can pick okra without getting prickly and itchy--a fairly rare experience among okra pickers. That fact makes okra a good crop for us to take to market--plenty of demand and few people who love picking it well enough to try growing it.
********************
We had several empty stalls at the market today, and we really missed the vendors who usually set up there. They are Mexican Food vendors, and they were missing because of regulations that require a new level of inspection and vendor certification which they could not meet before today. What a pain. I heard from another vendor that if they hired an inspector, he or she would have to come from Topeka, since there is no one available locally who could do the job.
I'm aware of many problems in our food supply system. None of them are primarily problems with small outfits the likes of which sell at our market. Yet the regulations seem particularly onerous for this group of processors. Not fair.
********************
Frieda sold out of their greenhouse tomatoes early in the day and went home. There's a big demand for their juicy hydroponic tomatoes.
********************
Judy M. stopped by today and talked a bit about our pork. Then she suddenly stopped and looked straight at Hiromi and said "I think you used to work for my husband. What is your name?" She was right, of course. Her husband was Bill, who gave Hiromi a job as a computer repairman when computers were new and technicians were few and Hiromi needed a good reason to get out of the miserable job he had before then.
We were at a Christmas party at their house one year. Judy is a dance instructor. She's probably in her seventies now.
*********************
The "Herb Man" at the market told me today that he grew up in California and he used to work on a farm there. The first thing they did every year was haul in chemicals by the ton and apply it to the fields. He has no interest in farming that way, so he's gradually learning a more gentle farming approach.
The "Herb Man" also sells pottery Scripture bowls which he and his wife make. They are glazed in neutral colors, and a Scripture quotation adorns the band around the top of each bowl. The only one I remember from today is this one: "I am sick of love." I think that was only part of it, but I suspect that giving that particular bowl as a gift would require some forethought and discretion.
********************
The Wednesday Market starts this week.
********************
I'm not sure if I've ever been this late in taking flowers to market. I have lots of larkspur, but I can't quite believe that people would be interested in buying vases crammed full of larkspur and nothing else. What I'm missing is focus flowers like zinnias, daisies, Echinacea, and Rudbeckia.
Just this week I planted Celosia (cockscomb), scented basil, and Gomphrena (Globe Amaranth)--all heat loving crops that I had no room for earlier. I decided to wait to seed them till later, and this week they were ready to plant into the garden.
*********************
Duane and his mother, Aunt Lizzie, said hello at the market today, but I didn't have a chance to visit with them. Duane lives in Colorado. Rosalyn and David helped out at Roman's market stand. Their stay in Kansas must be close to coming to an end, and they will return to the Northwest where their home is.
*********************
The musician at the market today sang about snakes in the outhouse. He sang some other songs too, but I don't remember those.
*********************
Not related to market--Random Bits From this Week's Activities
When I went in to Star Lumber to pay for our countertop laminate, the lady who was looking for the ticket had trouble finding it. (It had been written by another employee.) I gave her my name and spelled it. She tried to find it on the computer. Then she asked if it might be listed under Myron B. who is installing the countertop. I said that would be possible. When she handed me the ticket, I saw that our last name was spelled Yawashige. No wonder she couldn't find it with the help of my spelling.
Myron was listed as the purchaser, and we were listed as the client. When I checked out, the man at the cash register cheerfully finished up with "Thank you, Mrs. Bontrager." I smiled and thanked him too. "Bontrager," "Yawashige"--I answer to a variety of names.
********************
We planted 34 rows of sweet corn--Joel and Hilda, Shane and Dorcas, and Grant and I. Clare has already gone back to Washington and Hiromi had to work on the only evening it suited the rest of us, so they missed out. That was a lot of corn planting, and there were some mutterings of threatened mutiny.
We had calculated earlier that if we waited till this week to plant it might get ready AFTER Grant and Clare's wedding. Since it was already going to be late because of having to kill off a thriving patch of bindweed first, this will be an experiment. We'll need some reasonably cool weather while it's trying to pollinate--a good reason for NOT trying for late corn, since we often don't have cool weather in late July.
********************
Obsess, the girls' camp week at Calvary Bible School is in session now with about 140 girls in attendance. That's an amazing increase over last year's 40 girls.
My sister Lois, my co-teacher Norma, and my nieces Kristi, Heidi, and Christy are all there. Heidi is the photographer. A number of present and future students are there too. I think of the people there many times a day and pray for them.
It was a wonderful experience last year, and I'm very grateful for the ministry of the people who do so much work to make the event happen, and grateful that the girls have the opportunity to be part of it. About 20 girls from Kansas went.
********************
We've got a 70% chance of rain tonight. It would be welcome for every reason except the fact that it would interrupt the wheat harvest. If the rain arrives during the night, perhaps everyone will have an opportunity for a day of rest tomorrow whether they're accustomed to observing it as a religious discipline or not.
********************
I've had a saved search on Ebay for several years for Ecko Eterna Bastille flatware (table service). My mom had once given me several pieces that she had acquired randomly, and she was paring down her "silverware" supply to complete sets. For everyday use, I have never had anything except odds and ends. I learned to really like the heft and balance of the ones my mom gave me, and decided I'd like more of those. The design is very basic. I picked up odd lots on Ebay as they became available, and had decided that I will make $1.00 per piece my benchmark purchase price. This past week there was a 47 piece set offered for the starting price of $49.99. I placed one bid, and no one topped it. After the purchase arrived, I happily weeded out from my silverware drawer every piece that I did not enjoy using. So now I can smile every time I open it. I have a service for 12 with a few extra pieces.
Small pleasures for simple folks.
*********************
I turned 59 this week. I decided that I wanted to buy a really stellar-looking colander for my kitchen as a birthday present to myself. So I looked at Apron Strings, which I thought had the best chance of having what I wanted. I also decided I was going to look for something larger than my Tupperware colander. They only had one small stainless steel one. It was pretty, but not what I had in mind. She said she would order a larger one and let me know when it comes in, but I didn't have an obligation to buy it.
As my mind churned along I remembered having seen graniteware colanders that seemed like a better fit for my French Country/American Farmhouse tastes than stainless steel. So I checked out Ebay when I got home. I saw lots of colanders that I liked. I might actually buy a blue one from Poland. I could almost see a colander collection in my "new" kitchen at the Trail West place, but I'm swiftly trying to squelch the image. I need to pare down, not expand my collection of "stuff."
********************
When I walked into Apron Strings last week I had the sense that I might be intruding on an event that I was not meant to participate in. I saw a nicely decorated "sign in" table, and a bunch of young, smartly dressed people standing around, all looking like they were being very polite and conscious of how they were coming across to everyone around them.
I heard one person ask if she should lock the door. "Not until 5:30," she was told. It wasn't time yet. The proprietor of the store kindly helped me until I was satisfied, and then I exited quietly through a side entrance. The mystery was solved when I saw a sign on the door addressed to "Young Professionals"--apparently the group that was gathering when I arrived.
Whew. I am neither young nor professional-looking. Yet the Apron Strings place is probably more my kind of place than theirs. So there. I had every right to be in that place.
*********************
On my birthday Hiromi and I had broken off our garden work in the hot mid afternoon and gone to eat at a Chinese restaurant. He went to work after that, and I planned to do some shopping--a rare occurrence for me. I saw quickly that I would run out of time, so I made a few hurried stops and came home quickly to get ready for the corn planting project.
**********************
Hiromi is consistently getting more than 30 hours of work each week. He had hoped for about 20. That leaves me with a lot more of the garden work than I did last year. I'm trying to view it as an opportunity for purposeful exercise, but my muscles are protesting the workout.
*********************
I'm trying out the pickling jar I purchased near the end of the season last year. I put some Swiss Chard in the bottom and Chinese Cabbage in the top of the jar. After I put in the specified amount of salt dissolved in water and added a bit of liquid from a yogurt container that had live cultures, I filled it up with water and put on the lid with the cool little airlock valve on top. The idea is to let it ferment naturally and harmlessly by producing lactic acid. The salt is to preserve it till the lactic acid multiplies enough to preserve it.
*************************
Earl stopped by to talk. He's a savvy marketer, and advertises his produce on the "Royals" radio--probably at a time when the KC Royals are playing. He said he doesn't listen to talk radio from Hutch stations because he hates to listen to "the fat guy." I was scanning through my mental images of local radio personalities who had the specified physique when he clarified. The fat guy is Rush Limbaugh.
*************************
A woman came up to Earl while he was at our booth and started talking. The two of them evidently share a commitment to practicing some of their Native American traditions. There was talk of Sweat Lodges and a "Sweat" ("It should be a really strong sweat.") coming up soon on the farm where Earl's produce is grown. Oh my.
***********************
I met a small child who is little Otis' cousin--Jim and Lisa's grandson. The lovely little girl was dressed like a princess. Her grandmother, who used to be Hiromi's co-worker at TSW, explained that when she wants to dress like a princess, her grandmother lets her, even if she's just making a trip to the Farmer's Market.
***********************
I also met Tim, who grew up in Partridge. His sister, Charlene, was in my class in high school, and his mother still lives there. He bought some good pork, so I hope he'll be back.
**********************
Jim told us about a drum performance he saw recently in Salina. The drummers were Japanese, and the drums they used were carved from a single tree trunk. Some of the drums were huge. It is carpenters who make the drums--perhaps a somewhat specialized artistic function of carpentry. One of the performers comes from a family who has been making drums in Japan for more than 400 years. Beating these drums takes tremendous muscle power, and the drummers looked very fit. The "hammers" are huge, and the rhythm patterns are intricate and all memorized.
Several years ago at the state fair in Hutchinson, a Japanese group of drummers performed, and we were impressed then with many of the same things Jim talked about, although it seemed he had a chance to learn more about the history than we were told at that time.
*********************
We've had an uncommon streak of bad luck with getting our okra started this year. We started the plants in peat pots and had very few survivors after they were planted out. In desperation, we took soil from the okra beds and got it tested. The extension agent who interpreted the results stopped by our booth today and told us that our soil was fine. So the problem apparently lay elsewhere--maybe just in the cool spring weather we've had so far. We ordered more seeds (Stutzmans is out.) and are going to keep trying.
Last week Wichita had the earliest streak ever of six consecutive days with temperatures over 100 degrees, and our weather was like theirs--obviously a major departure from the earlier cool spring weather. So I'm thinking if it's not hot enough now for okra to thrive, it's never going to get that way.
Rosa N. did not think a crop failure of okra would be such a bad thing, apparently based on her likes and dislikes in vegetables. She was sorry though about her beans looking just as pathetic as our okra.
Hiromi can pick okra without getting prickly and itchy--a fairly rare experience among okra pickers. That fact makes okra a good crop for us to take to market--plenty of demand and few people who love picking it well enough to try growing it.
********************
We had several empty stalls at the market today, and we really missed the vendors who usually set up there. They are Mexican Food vendors, and they were missing because of regulations that require a new level of inspection and vendor certification which they could not meet before today. What a pain. I heard from another vendor that if they hired an inspector, he or she would have to come from Topeka, since there is no one available locally who could do the job.
I'm aware of many problems in our food supply system. None of them are primarily problems with small outfits the likes of which sell at our market. Yet the regulations seem particularly onerous for this group of processors. Not fair.
********************
Frieda sold out of their greenhouse tomatoes early in the day and went home. There's a big demand for their juicy hydroponic tomatoes.
********************
Judy M. stopped by today and talked a bit about our pork. Then she suddenly stopped and looked straight at Hiromi and said "I think you used to work for my husband. What is your name?" She was right, of course. Her husband was Bill, who gave Hiromi a job as a computer repairman when computers were new and technicians were few and Hiromi needed a good reason to get out of the miserable job he had before then.
We were at a Christmas party at their house one year. Judy is a dance instructor. She's probably in her seventies now.
*********************
The "Herb Man" at the market told me today that he grew up in California and he used to work on a farm there. The first thing they did every year was haul in chemicals by the ton and apply it to the fields. He has no interest in farming that way, so he's gradually learning a more gentle farming approach.
The "Herb Man" also sells pottery Scripture bowls which he and his wife make. They are glazed in neutral colors, and a Scripture quotation adorns the band around the top of each bowl. The only one I remember from today is this one: "I am sick of love." I think that was only part of it, but I suspect that giving that particular bowl as a gift would require some forethought and discretion.
********************
The Wednesday Market starts this week.
********************
I'm not sure if I've ever been this late in taking flowers to market. I have lots of larkspur, but I can't quite believe that people would be interested in buying vases crammed full of larkspur and nothing else. What I'm missing is focus flowers like zinnias, daisies, Echinacea, and Rudbeckia.
Just this week I planted Celosia (cockscomb), scented basil, and Gomphrena (Globe Amaranth)--all heat loving crops that I had no room for earlier. I decided to wait to seed them till later, and this week they were ready to plant into the garden.
*********************
Duane and his mother, Aunt Lizzie, said hello at the market today, but I didn't have a chance to visit with them. Duane lives in Colorado. Rosalyn and David helped out at Roman's market stand. Their stay in Kansas must be close to coming to an end, and they will return to the Northwest where their home is.
*********************
The musician at the market today sang about snakes in the outhouse. He sang some other songs too, but I don't remember those.
*********************
Not related to market--Random Bits From this Week's Activities
When I went in to Star Lumber to pay for our countertop laminate, the lady who was looking for the ticket had trouble finding it. (It had been written by another employee.) I gave her my name and spelled it. She tried to find it on the computer. Then she asked if it might be listed under Myron B. who is installing the countertop. I said that would be possible. When she handed me the ticket, I saw that our last name was spelled Yawashige. No wonder she couldn't find it with the help of my spelling.
Myron was listed as the purchaser, and we were listed as the client. When I checked out, the man at the cash register cheerfully finished up with "Thank you, Mrs. Bontrager." I smiled and thanked him too. "Bontrager," "Yawashige"--I answer to a variety of names.
********************
We planted 34 rows of sweet corn--Joel and Hilda, Shane and Dorcas, and Grant and I. Clare has already gone back to Washington and Hiromi had to work on the only evening it suited the rest of us, so they missed out. That was a lot of corn planting, and there were some mutterings of threatened mutiny.
We had calculated earlier that if we waited till this week to plant it might get ready AFTER Grant and Clare's wedding. Since it was already going to be late because of having to kill off a thriving patch of bindweed first, this will be an experiment. We'll need some reasonably cool weather while it's trying to pollinate--a good reason for NOT trying for late corn, since we often don't have cool weather in late July.
********************
Obsess, the girls' camp week at Calvary Bible School is in session now with about 140 girls in attendance. That's an amazing increase over last year's 40 girls.
My sister Lois, my co-teacher Norma, and my nieces Kristi, Heidi, and Christy are all there. Heidi is the photographer. A number of present and future students are there too. I think of the people there many times a day and pray for them.
It was a wonderful experience last year, and I'm very grateful for the ministry of the people who do so much work to make the event happen, and grateful that the girls have the opportunity to be part of it. About 20 girls from Kansas went.
********************
We've got a 70% chance of rain tonight. It would be welcome for every reason except the fact that it would interrupt the wheat harvest. If the rain arrives during the night, perhaps everyone will have an opportunity for a day of rest tomorrow whether they're accustomed to observing it as a religious discipline or not.
********************
I've had a saved search on Ebay for several years for Ecko Eterna Bastille flatware (table service). My mom had once given me several pieces that she had acquired randomly, and she was paring down her "silverware" supply to complete sets. For everyday use, I have never had anything except odds and ends. I learned to really like the heft and balance of the ones my mom gave me, and decided I'd like more of those. The design is very basic. I picked up odd lots on Ebay as they became available, and had decided that I will make $1.00 per piece my benchmark purchase price. This past week there was a 47 piece set offered for the starting price of $49.99. I placed one bid, and no one topped it. After the purchase arrived, I happily weeded out from my silverware drawer every piece that I did not enjoy using. So now I can smile every time I open it. I have a service for 12 with a few extra pieces.
Small pleasures for simple folks.
*********************
I turned 59 this week. I decided that I wanted to buy a really stellar-looking colander for my kitchen as a birthday present to myself. So I looked at Apron Strings, which I thought had the best chance of having what I wanted. I also decided I was going to look for something larger than my Tupperware colander. They only had one small stainless steel one. It was pretty, but not what I had in mind. She said she would order a larger one and let me know when it comes in, but I didn't have an obligation to buy it.
As my mind churned along I remembered having seen graniteware colanders that seemed like a better fit for my French Country/American Farmhouse tastes than stainless steel. So I checked out Ebay when I got home. I saw lots of colanders that I liked. I might actually buy a blue one from Poland. I could almost see a colander collection in my "new" kitchen at the Trail West place, but I'm swiftly trying to squelch the image. I need to pare down, not expand my collection of "stuff."
********************
When I walked into Apron Strings last week I had the sense that I might be intruding on an event that I was not meant to participate in. I saw a nicely decorated "sign in" table, and a bunch of young, smartly dressed people standing around, all looking like they were being very polite and conscious of how they were coming across to everyone around them.
I heard one person ask if she should lock the door. "Not until 5:30," she was told. It wasn't time yet. The proprietor of the store kindly helped me until I was satisfied, and then I exited quietly through a side entrance. The mystery was solved when I saw a sign on the door addressed to "Young Professionals"--apparently the group that was gathering when I arrived.
Whew. I am neither young nor professional-looking. Yet the Apron Strings place is probably more my kind of place than theirs. So there. I had every right to be in that place.
*********************
On my birthday Hiromi and I had broken off our garden work in the hot mid afternoon and gone to eat at a Chinese restaurant. He went to work after that, and I planned to do some shopping--a rare occurrence for me. I saw quickly that I would run out of time, so I made a few hurried stops and came home quickly to get ready for the corn planting project.
**********************
Hiromi is consistently getting more than 30 hours of work each week. He had hoped for about 20. That leaves me with a lot more of the garden work than I did last year. I'm trying to view it as an opportunity for purposeful exercise, but my muscles are protesting the workout.
*********************
I'm trying out the pickling jar I purchased near the end of the season last year. I put some Swiss Chard in the bottom and Chinese Cabbage in the top of the jar. After I put in the specified amount of salt dissolved in water and added a bit of liquid from a yogurt container that had live cultures, I filled it up with water and put on the lid with the cool little airlock valve on top. The idea is to let it ferment naturally and harmlessly by producing lactic acid. The salt is to preserve it till the lactic acid multiplies enough to preserve it.
posted by Mrs. I at
4:13 PM
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