I went to the farmer's market around 10 this morning and was amazed to see such a crowded parking lot as I pulled in! I'm normally a little later than 10, so I had no idea how many people could pack in there at one time.
As I walked up to the building, there was a loooooong line of people, all with bags of okra in hand, waiting to check out. I'm not a big enough fan of an okra fan to wait in line for it, but I definitely want to grow it next year.
Inside the building I encountered more lines, which was slightly annoying to me but wonderful for the farmers. I found one table without a line that had two things I wanted: green tomatoes and pumpkin blossoms. I don't feel like we have enough of a tomato supply yet to start picking them green, but Chad has never had a fried green tomato in his life and I want to introduce him to it. The pumpkin blossoms, which I plan to fry at the same time, are a new venture for both of us. Exciting!
Since the eggs are all gone by the time I normally get to the market this time of year, I was thrilled to see a line at my usual supplier's table. I got right in line and waited patiently behind a man returning three egg cartons (I love that the farmer reuses them). When he finally reached the table, he put down the empty cartons and said:
Customer: I only need one dozen this week.
Seller: But you always order two.
Customer: Well, we're just not eating enough eggs to get two dozen anymore.
Seller: OK... but I had two dozen reserved for you.
Customer: Oh... OK. If that's a problem, I guess I'll go ahead and buy the two. But put me down for one next week.
This was when I realized that I'd waited in line this whole time and it turns out that the seller is taking and filling orders, not selling first-come-first-serve like she does in the winter! So I quickly piped in:
Me: Hey, wait, *I* will buy the other dozen!!! I'll take it!
Customer: Oh! Awesome, thank you!
Me: No problem! Thank you!!!
So I bought his second dozen (extra jumbo!) eggs. What a stroke of luck for both he and I, huh? I love when stuff like that happens.
I hadn't had breakfast yet and was too hungry to stand around in anymore lines, but I walked the circle of the market one more time to look at all of the amazing produce. I almost decided to spend the time to get some sweet corn, and I sort of wish I had now, but we're currently short on cash and I decided I would make meal plans for next weekend that include corn on the cob and come back for a big bag. Yum.
So now I'm thinking about frying up the tomatoes and blossoms tomorrow and I'm in a great mood. Even if I'm late, I really need to make myself go to the farmer's market every weekend.
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3 comments:
How lucky you are to have a "real" farmer's market nearby. We have grocery stores that are posing as "Farmer's markets". I would love to have fresh picked produce and know I was helping our local farmers at the same time.
We have access to a farmers market and are enjoying the bounty.
We are definitely lucky to have a real, sizable farmer's market here. It even keeps going during the winter, which lets us eat a little more in-season. Not that we don't cheat with store-produce!
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