People watching at the Farmer's Market

I have been a regular at our local Farmer's Market since they started twenty-five years ago. They have moved into larger locations, for several years in a row, and instead of one, we now have several, not only in Redding but in the smaller towns around us.

When the grower's expanded into broccoli, heirloom tomatoes, fancy melons, potatoes, onions, cilantro, etc. the people started flocking. Today, as I am standing and waiting for the 7:30 am bell to ring so they can start selling, I am looking at regular customers who have been standing at the only person left who still has fresh broccoli. They have this attitude about them, about being first in line and don't mess with me. The second lady (who I call, "wild lady") is anxious to get her broccoli, because she wants to get over to the melon guy, to get her special melons. Several want to get to the O'Henry Peach person because O'Henry's are only here for ten days. I love stuff like this. I take my time, observe, and I still get my broccoli, and my melon. I glance over at the O'Henry Peach lady, she has a line 6 deep....I decide to skip it, when I notice that right in front of me is this grower, with no one at his stand, (it is small) and he has several boxes of O'Henry peaches...beautiful! So I buy what I think we will eat for the week and wander over to the other O'Henry lady because her line has gone down to nothing. I buy two from her and will compare them at home. I see stuff like this all the time there, because I am a regular and know what to look for. I scout out the stand where no one is waiting and usually find some great produce. It tickles me to give them my business.
What do you observe at your local grower's markets?

Farmer's Markets are slim pickings in these parts. It is a big let down from where we used to live in Maine. There we were smack in the middle of the land that the "back to the landers" lived, and the markets were fantastic.

Ours opens at 10:00 AM, which I find a little amazing. Napa FM opened at 7:30.

Last time I went to the market, I was waiting in front of no particular farmer at about 9:50 AM when a woman struck up a (one-sided) conversation with me. She was visiting from Arizona; she'd just up and left at the beginning of summer, leaving her husband behind and staying in Bellingham with her daughter; she told me Phoenix had no real residential neighborhoods where people talked with each other, at least not in summer, where the heat was shimmering 24 hours a day. She was in a very talkative mood so I just listened until 10:00 and wished her well.

Just got back from ours. I've never been there early enough to hit the opening (I think it's at 7:30 or thereabouts), so there are always large crowds this time of year. Our regulars include Johnny "Guitar" Knox, playing blues with his guitar case open at one entrance. There's a large black gentleman whom I think of as the Ambassador of the Market; he's always dressed to the nines, strolling the market with a huge grin and greeting everyone he passes (and that's a lot of greeting!). Today, when I stop to buy baby bok choy, there's a rather attractive young woman with a spiral notebook standing next to me with a bit of a frown on her face. "What is that?", she asks. I tell her it's bok choy and she says that's what she thought. She doesn't look like she's buying anything and I'm tempted to ask her what she's doing, but I move along instead. I was in a bit of a hurry - if that weren't the case, I'm sure there would be more to add.

[Jenise]

I haven't been to our farmers market even once this summer.

Went to one on Kauai a few weeks ago where among the piles and piles of different varieties of mangoes and papayas there were such wonders as white pineapple (best pineapple I've ever eaten, bar none) and purple avocados. But that's the fruit and not really what you're asking about. Can't say I noticed other shoppers except to appreciate how colorful the clothing is (Hawaiians really do wear all those colorful Hawaiian shirt fabrics) and how divinely beautiful the average Hawaiian's skin is. The humidity does wonders.

My FM are in NY. More characters than I have time to watch... crazy old ladies barrelling along with their little wheeled carts, children tugging their 'rents towards the cookies, splitting open the ears of corn and commenting on quality with the 40-somethings next to me, talking to the farmers (of course), wondering why the Amish pretzels are always sold by a couple really cute non-Amish-looking guys...

I live in the ‘burbs right on the boarder of the sticks and oddly our farmer’s market is incredibly lame. Once a week I drive into the city and go to one of their farmer’s markets. Ten times better than the local one. They rebuilt it a couple of years ago and even have restrooms now so the farmers do not have to relieve themselves behind the bushes. Running water is available as well so they can wash their hands if they choose to do so. The market opens at 11:30 AM on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. My guess is that is because many of these farmers drive great distances to get there. Up at daybreak to pick the crop then loading it up before driving many miles into the city. The vast majority of the farmers are in a jovial mood despite the hours they have to keep as well as having to answer the stupid questions from some of the “city folks”.

There is not too much interesting people watching at the market I frequent. Mostly just people like me that do not have the time to cultivate our own gardens and first generation immigrants who value fresh ingredients and would never even think of eating at an Applebee’s or a Taco Bell.

God bless the farmers that work from dawn until after dusk, day in and day out without a vacation to provide nourishment for everyone else. That, in my opinion, is an honorable profession.

You are right about the profession Dave. One lady I buy from has roaming bears on her property and has to carry her gun with her, at all times when outdoors. Her dogs usually alert her, but she does not want her dogs mauled either. Yes, they do travel a ways to come into the city. One grower lives near us, but many live in the foothills or the mountains. I love it when they have fresh lettuce, arugula and cilantro, long after mine has bolted and turned ugly. I make a point to thank them for their hard work at the end of the season. This year they will be at the market until almost Christmas. That means they are finally doing winter gardens.

I took these this past Spring while visiting our local Farmers Market.

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in ann arbor the FM opens at 7 am on wed and sat; but people buy from the farmers as soon as they are set up - often much before 7 am. the rule is that you have to grow or make whatever you sell - we are too close to northern ohio not to allow them as well as michigan growers. honey, flowers, baked goods, mushrooms, lots of fruits and veggies - esp. tiny veggies, and lots of heirloom tomatoes. mich. grows more types fo things than any state except CA, so..... lots of the small haricot vert, and tons of blueberries and of course tart cherries - which are done now. been a cool year, so we've had good lettuce and even brocoli for much of the summer - they both hate warmer weather. lots of different languages spoken by the shoppers and the ranks of venders have been upped with several amish and similar - some conservative enough to use straight pins on their clothing. quite a bit or organic of course - dispite our often humid climate. football saturdays are particularly interesting with maze and blue dressed fans adding to the mix. a great meat market, fish market and wine shop next door complete the package. i'm really lucky.