Market Update

Today's market was wonderful. The sky was overcast, there was a cool breeze, and no humidity. Perfect. By 11 am the market was hopping, and sales were brisk. Not nearly as good as the past few weekends, but still pretty good. I'm not complaining!

Before we get started with veggie pictures, let me show you one reason why I no longer grow tomatoes in my yard:

There is a partially-eaten tomato on my fence. (Sorry the photo is blurry, but I took it through the screen. If I'd opened the screen, I'd still be chasing down kitty.) My tree has grown so full it provides too much shade to plant maters in the ground, but I can grow a Patio Tomato plant in a large pot, and I have, with much success. The only problem is, the pesky squirrels get to the red ones before I do, and they either steal it, eat part of it, and leave it on the fence like this one (I wonder from whom they stole it?), or they leave it on the plant, and just take a bite out of it. The nerve! I got tired of providing red maters for the squirrels, so I sadly had to stop growing them. I never got any, anyway...

Let's move on to the veggie portion of our show! We are much later in the season, now, and I can see the change in the colors of the produce. Still beautiful, though.

Here is my standard mater shot:

... and basil:

OMG, I smelled this ALL DAY LONG. SOOOOO good!

Unfortunately, okra season is NOT over yet:

Seriously, I hate intensely dislike this stuff, and Farmer Mike keeps taunting me with it. I am NOT going to buy any. Nope. Can't make me.

Sweet peppers:

So pretty!

Eggplant:

... poblanos:

... tomatillos:

No, I did not buy any more. I'm still feeding off the salsa I made with last week's batch.

Yellow squash and one baby Hubbard Squash:

We are approaching squash season! Yum!

Zukes:

There were some normal-sized ones this week. I like to cut up the baby ones to put in salads or scrambled eggs.

Some of Farmer Katie's fruit:

... and Farmer Margie's fruit:


... and corn:

Back to Farmer Katie's pretty mater display:

(I had to keep moving around to stay out of the way of paying customers.)

In the floral tent, we had Gladiolas:

... but I brought my vase over too late to get any. ;(

Butterfly Weed:

... and more Butterfly Weed:

Different colors of Cockscomb (Celosia):

... more Cockscomb:

I got this plus some Butterfly Weed in my vase this week. :)

Back to Farmer Katie and more fruit:


... and her cut flowers:

The Rock Lady had some new piggies:

... and a bison! -->

Then I stopped by the bookbinder's booth. Today she was dressed like this:

... which is how she dresses all the time. Actually, she said she is more often in Victorian garb. Seriously, she wears it every day! Check out her waist ... corset. She and her husband give presentations on fashion in history. You can read more about them and their collection of antique clothing and daily-wear reproductions on their Web site. (She was wearing white gloves!) I think she is going to make the rest of us look real bad, but she is so nice, we'll let her.

Here is a peek at my little corner:

See all those ladies with snarky sentiments? :) Finally got them all bagged and tagged before bed last night.

Okay, that's the end of the normal part of the show. This is where you'd expect to see the doggie parade, but I'm reforming, and took zero (none, nil, nada, not a one) pictures of dogs today. To make it up to you, I have two new features, but they may not be appropriate for small children. Please send them away. ... ... ... ... Okay, ready?

I bring you installment #1 of "What not to wear to a farmers market":

Cute, yes. Appropriate? No. You would be amazed at some of the things we see walking through. This is the first time I've had the nerve to post one. I must be "in a mood" or something.

The next offering I have is "mutant veggies". I took a poll, and it was unanimous: you must post them. Since we know I always do as I'm told (HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA!), here we go.

Back-story: When I arrive, pretty much all the other crafters and ALL the farmers have already set up. I sit near Farmer Mike, and he and one of the other guys have some fun going through the veggies and picking out mutants. They stand them on top of the bins, then drag me over to see their handiwork once I arrive. This is what I got to see today:

#1:

The resident artist took this and sketched it. Uh-huh.

#2:

Yes, there was discussion about ... um ... er ... well, you figure it out.

And #3:


I don't even want to talk about this one, but it was not nice. Did you know grown men giggle? They do!

Okay, that's the end of the market pics. In other news, I'm getting a pedicure tomorrow morning (maybe) and then I may play with my polymer clay and see if I can make buttons. I also wanted to clear off my work table tonight and play with canvas and paints. Anyone want to take bets on the artsy parts of these plans? :)

Thanks for stopping by!