I was able to attend along with my friend Trisa and her son, Gavin. We stopped along the way and picked up her Mom, Judy. The weather was perfect, 64* with no wind. The sun was shining and warming everything it touched. It was a very welcome feeling after having a week straight of on-again, off-again rain and cloudy days. Just as we suspected, there were minimal parking spots left to choose from and the market was pretty busy with shoppers. It's a day for pet owners to bring their dogs along for the ride and let them walk through the market with them. Of course, we gave a pat to any dog that was willing to stand still long enough to accept it. They were all busy sniffing the ground for droppings of food samples that people left behind and quickly lapping them up before the next pooch could find it!
As for myself, after shopping through all the little booths, I picked out a miniature blueberry pie for sampling at home with ice cream. I also found some delicious kettle corn and a couple jars of jelly from a local vendor called "It's All About Bees!". The flavors I chose were chokecherry and apple butter with honey. I'm especially anxious to try the chokecherry. My own Mom used to make homemade chokecherry jelly and syrup from the berries that we all used to pick as a family. We would use empty Schwan's ice cream pails that had been strung with twine to hold our berries. (good thinking Dad!) The twine allowed us to hang the pails around our necks in order to utilize both hands for optimum berry selections! So whenever I see chokecherry jelly from an event such as this, I don't pass up the chance to try it and make my own comparisons to Mom's. It's never as good as hers, obviously!
It was fun to get back out to the Farmers Market. I am reminded of the Flea Market that used to take place back home in McGregor, ND. (does it still happen?) Same principle but a lot more people and booths and home grown garden-variety foods to pick from here in Omaha. Is that stating the obvious? If you're not familiar with McGregor, then I guess not. It's a very small dot on the map of ND in the northwest corner of the state. Population....umm....maybe 30? Give or take a few.
But it was always fun to attend and eat lunch in the church basement. There was always a silent auction and a bake sale. That was the best part! We saw people that we knew from many surrounding counties! They came from miles and miles away for this small town event. And sometimes there would be a farm auction happening that day or the next that we would go to as well. You would have to live on a farm or in a small community to fully understand the "hugeness" that always came with these types of happenings.
So getting to take part in any farmers market always seems "just like home" to me.
1 comment:
How fun to remember the McGregor Flea Market! It always seemed like a big "to do" when we were kids, but probably not so much from an adult perspective. (And 30 is a very generous guess.)
I approve of the items that you selected. Sounds delicious!
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