Day 28 (7/12/12): To Market, To Market…

I was pleasantly surprised this morning when Mary asked me if I wanted to go to market with Kenya this afternoon.  OF COURSE.  Ever since I’d heard Katie tell me of the gluten-free bakery 2 shops down, the meal-in-a-bag people next door, the organic ice cream truck parked nearby, and the loads of friendly people to talk to, I couldn’t wait for the day when Mary would let me go to the Waterville Farmer’s Market.  From Mary, Jillian, and Katie’s humored looks, I think my excitement was a little too apparent. 

I spent the morning watering and cleaning the tomato (upper) hoop house.  When the tomatoes become as large as they’re getting, one tomato plant weighs more than 100 lbs.  With ~20 tomato plants in each row (5 rows total) tied to a string going along the row, the metal-framed hoop house could break under all the weight.  We put planks in the middle of each row to hold up the spring and spread out the weight better. I hand-weeded down in the fields for the rest of the morning until I headed up at 12:30 to quickly change and grab my wallet before leaving.   The car was all packed and ready to go, so Mary sent us on our way, reminding me to make slow and wide left turns to prevent damaging the pies in the trunk. 

It was so refreshing to be at market with so many people around me.  I forget how much I miss being in such populated areas, however much I appreciate the solitude that farming often provides.  Today we were selling honey oat and cinnamon (my favorite) breads, blueberry and blueberry/raspberry pies, turkey pot pies, pesto, 4 kinds of jam, several pickled goods, and flower bouquets.  Kenya loved my idea of making a Winterberry Farm Cookbook; I think it could be a huge hit.  It was a scorching day, but I was happy just sitting in the shade and greeting customers.  People are in such good moods when they come to farmer’s markets and they just want to know all about where the goods came from.  A few people even looked interested in our Dinner on the Farm flyer.  Kenya got some coffee ice cream (with coffee bean nibs) and I got a huge whoopee pie for $2 across the way from some Amish girls.  Kenya and I talked about our weeks; I told her about SAT testing and answered her questions about college; and Kenya told me about her and her siblings’ home school experience.  Kenya was homeschooled in 2^nd grade and then begged her mother to be homeschooled for high school, she feels like she learns more this way, and apparently the school system isn’t the best around here.  Gilbert did K-2 at a Montessori school, and now uses a Waldorf program at home¹.  Sage just started kindergarten last year and jumped on her family’s bandwagon of being home-schooled.  Kenya joked that Sage doesn’t know what a line is since she didn’t go to school with other kids to learn that.  Oh, I remember the days of hiping-and-lipping. 

By the end of the day we were out of pesto and turkey pot pies; we had 1 cinnamon bread and 1 blueberry/raspberry pie left; we had sold half the jams; and a few of the pickled goods and a flower bouquet had been bought.  We had countless people come up asking for pesto (they sold like hotcakes!) after we’d sold out, and many people come asking for honey² and whole wheat bread, too.  We often trade with other stands after market, but we didn’t stick around since we had errands to do on the way home.  

On the way home we stopped off at Wal-Mart, Hannaford’s, and DQ to share a Heath Blizzard with Kenya’s gift card there (best. day. Ever.).  Tonight was my night for dishes according to our new schedule, so although I barely had a bite of the dinner made, I set about cleaning a day’s worth of dishes after unloading the car.  Mary was quite pleased with our earnings for the day.  Although I didn’t do as much physical activity today as usual, I’m exhausted still.  

¹ Montessori education has an emphasis on independence, freedom within limits, and respect for a child’s natural psychological development, as well as technological advancements in society. Characteristics include mixed age classrooms, uninterrupted blocks of work time, learning by working with materials rather than by direct instruction.  

Waldorf learning is interdisciplinary, integrating practical, artistic, and conceptual elements. The approach emphasizes the role of the imagination in learning, developing thinking that includes a creative as well as an analytic component. The educational philosophy's overarching goals are to provide young people the basis on which to develop into free, morally responsible and integrated individuals.

² Something about this year has not been right for the bees.  Our farm is better off than most in terms of our honey, and we barely have any so far.  The flowers are blooming a lot later, and so their growth schedule has been thrown off a little.  Bees across the state aren’t producing much honey this year.