A. A place where you go to engage the services of a farmer.
B. A shopping event exclusively for farmers.
C. A welcoming space for a community to gather to buy locally grown or prepared foods, beverages, flowers and other little luxuries while catching up with friends and sharing local news, blessing or complaining about the weather; and generally just a really nice way to start the weekend.
If you chose C: ding ding ding! Lansdowne Farmers Marker (LFM) is definitely all that. And last weekend it really felt like the pre-COVID vibe was making a comeback. Seeing people (some for the first time) from the nose down seemed almost normal. Groups of people chatting in close circles, hugging, and laughing out loud…I remember that!
But, please, don’t get carried away. Caution is still a thing. And we may see new behaviors that become the new normal. Like social distancing, for instance. I noticed that people, masked or un-, are still queuing up politely at the vender stalls instead of jostling for position at the corn crates. Could become a thing.
So…last week I continued on my only-eat-them-in-season fetish…
Peaches: I didn’t let the rock hard hand grenades stop me…All that was needed was a brown bag and two days in a sunny window. I’m eating one as I type. So juicy you may need a wet-nap on your end.
Cantaloupes: This one from Greenhorn Gardens was sweet right down to the rind. I like to buy melons first thing, and let them marinate in my car for the next couple of hours. You can get drunk on the ride home. WORD UP…DO NOT do this with the raspberries! You’ll just get disappointed.
What’s up next? Nectarines (I call ‘em peaches with attitude) have a short season, so don’t wait. You can do the windowsill thing with them, too. And I’m hoping this July’s sunny-rainy-hot cycle is adding weight and crisp sugary ripeness to the watermelons just coming in. Remember to look for the flat yellow bottom.
BTW: Shout out to Fruitwood Farms for being with us from LFM’s earliest days. Always a full groaning board of fruits and veggies…especially all those vitamin-packed leafy greens; and they can tell you just what to do with them, too. So ask a question or two and try something new this week. It could be the start of something great.
Do you remember, well maybe you don’t but I sure do, when “malt” meant an after-school trip to the local soda shop and listening to Fats and Elvis? Well, fast forward to 2021 and the Deer Creek Malthouse tent. They’ve given malt a whole new reason to fall in love…and you won’t need a straw.
Community Day…Do you have a small home business you’d like to promote? Elsewhere in this edition of our LFM newsletter you’ll find info from the LEDC on how to secure tent/table space for our First-Since-COVID Community Day at the end of the month. Show us watcha got.
See you at the Market!
Terry Baraldi