It’s a fifth Saturday of the month and we have
a bonus Kids Garden Club this Saturday. We’ll be turning the kids into pea-pickers, or should I say future pea-pickers.
Each child will take home a cup filled with soil and a pea seed. Peas are very
satisfying to grow because the seed is large and so is the baby plant. No
straining to see if it’s sprouted as you might with radish or lettuce seed.
For me, peas always bring LuNelle Floyd to mind.
Many years ago she was suggested to me to be the cook for a dinner theater my
church was putting on. I can’t remember why we hired a cook. I guess we all
wanted to be guests! Anyway, LuNelle
proved to be an exceptional cook, as well as a good friend. During that first
meeting for some reason she commented that with her farming family traipsing in
from the fields, her kitchen floor was so dirty she might as well just plant
peas!
Had I heard such a comment more recently I
would recommend the habit of the Hmong farmers at the market. In Asian style,
they always leave their shoes outside by the door. Now that my daughter Cora
lives in Mongolia, her family does the same. In fact, her landlady was adamant
that they adopt that practice.
Like many practices from other cultures, there’s
more to it than meets the eye because they don’t just take off their shoes,
they wear slippers or socks in the house to keep the floors clean. It’s a
pretty good idea actually and I always observe it when making farm inspections
at Hmong farms, and I often remove my shoes when visiting other farms and
friends.
But back to the market (my footwear is
probably not a topic of general interest). Saturday, Stewart’s Bakery will serve
their usual breakfast. The lunch for eat-in or take-out is hamburger vegetable
soup for $5 a pint.
Scott Eastman is on the market stage.
Terrell Creek will be at the market tomorrow with their award winning goat cheese. The Red Tamale returned last week for the first time in six months and will be back tomorrow. We have three brand new businesses starting Saturday: Savory Sauce, a new business operating out of the market kitchen specializing
in their own salad dressings. Bre Newby, our newest baker, will have decorated sugar cookies using her husband's grandmother's recipe - yes, that would be Jeanne Newby, our very first market baker back in 2000. For the Birds - Avarian Delights will have handcrafted bird seed wreaths, just right to welcome back our feathered friends.We’ll have lots of spring greens and other cool weather crops to put dressing on, plus there will be honey, jams and jellies, baked goods, kettle corn, farm fresh eggs, all natural meats, both our soap makers and the knife sharpeners. Sharron will be there with Rada utensils.
Next Saturday is the first Saturday of the
month which means the streetcar will run. Catch a free ride between 9 and noon.
The ride around the park takes about 15 minutes and is certainly a trip down
memory lane. Even if you didn’t ride the streetcar in its heyday, and that
would have been in the 1910’s so it seems pretty unlikely, you may remember
riding it during the many Mining Days Celebrations or during the Polar Bear
Express. Bring the little ones and get them started on some special memories –
on the streetcar and at the market. See you Saturday!
