Monday, August 6, 2012

Late for the Farmers Market! Oh, no!

"I'm late!  I'm late!  I'm late!"

Like the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, I rushed about at full speed, checking the time continually.  I brushed my hair while simultaneously eating breakfast and stepping into my jeans.  Somehow I managed to dress my daughter at the same time, but I can't honestly tell you where I managed to produce the second hand that allowed this to happen.

I'm late!


I woke up late.  Very late.  As in, 'the-farmers-market-is-shutting-down-in-a-little-over-an-hour-and-I-still-have-to-walk-all-the-way-there' late.  Yep.  I felt like the rabbit.

As if that wasn't enough to produce large waves of stress, I also had less money than usual.


Normally I head off to the farmers market with about $20.  This allows me to get plenty of vegetables, a baked treat for my daughter, and any other necessary items.  Now that everybody's crops are finally ready to harvest, there's a nice variety, so the farmers market allows me to grab a large portion of my family's food needs from a local and safe source.

This weekend, though, I only had $13 on me.  I wasn't able to withdraw my normal amount from our bank account.  This meant that I'd probably have to make a few sacrifices, and make due with items from the grocery store.

And I was late.  I can't stress the frustration of this enough.

When at last my daughter and I arrived at the farmers market, many of the vendors were beginning to pack up.  My favorite table - the salsa table - was already gone.  We dashed through the vendor tables at a record pace.

The 2012 Olympic runners would have been jealous.

At last, made made it to the finish line - otherwise known as the end of the rows upon rows of tables that extend across the sidewalks along two full sides of the park.  We had managed to purchase enough to make me happy, while spending every last penny.

So what did we manage to get this weekend?

A lot more than I expected!


1 carrot cake muffin (cream cheese frosting devoured by my daughter before the photo could be taken)
1 bag of green beans
1 bag of medium red potatoes
2 fat cucumbers
3 pounds of carrots (they look funny, but they're unbelievably sweet!)
6 peeled ears of corn
12 organic, free range eggs

It turns out that even though I had to race through the farmers market, I was able to get a pretty large amount of food.  I didn't have the same variety that I would have had if I got there an hour earlier, and I missed quite a few tables, including my favorite salsa ladies, but there was one benefit that I received that I never would have thought about otherwise.

Since it was time for the vendors to start packing up, food was being sold at a lower price.


Think about it.  They have to take all of that stuff back with them.  Naturally, they'd rather sell the food, even if it's at a lower price than they'd otherwise like.

This wasn't the case at all of the tables, but it was true for enough of the tables that it made a huge difference.  The vendor with the carrots, for example, gave me all of his remaining lengths of orange goodness for the price of two bunches.

Success!

While I can't say that I want to show up late again next week, I'm perfectly happy with the results of this trip.  My only regret is that I missed the salsa ladies.  It looks like I have something specific to look forward to for next week's farmers market!

Hooray!!!

No comments:

Post a Comment