The Solitary Farmer's Market

Or maybe we should just call it a "farmer's table"....

This summer, one of our vendors that we market our cut flowers to, SAVENOR'S on Beacon Hill, approached us and asked if we'd like to try starting a farmer's market in an adjacent parking lot. The idea was that we could sell directly to the public, with no cut due to Savenor's, in the hopes that it would drive some Friday afternoon/post work traffic to their store. After much debate, Kara and I gave it the thumb's up. Savenor's GM, Juliana, had approached a few other farmers, but we were the only ones that were able to commit mid-season.

And I am glad we did! We set up every Friday from 3-7pm and were able to sell loads of zinnias, cosmos, calendula, gomphrena and sunflower bouquets, a few herbs such as dill, oregano, basil and sage, specialty vegetables like husk cherries, tomatillos, hot peppers, and pints of red and yellow pear tomatoes. We also had beautiful 'bright lights' swiss chard in electric shades of pink, red, orange and yellow, prisma red shallots, and beets. To round out our selections, we brought in some conventionally grown red tomatoes from Stasinos Farms in Bradford along with his peppers, eggplants, cukes, and corn.

We eventually got a Bittersweet Gardens banner, advertising our organic produce and letting folks know we grow locally in Chelmsford, Mass. We kept busy by consistently restocking the table, sleeving flowers, bagging produce, polishing tomatoes, etc. But by the end of the evening, when it began to drag a little, we threw down with a competitive game of "Operation," complete with end-zone celebratory dance moves. That damn buzzer still shocks the heck out of me when I goof on a funny bone extraction - which wasn't often, I'd like to point out. Hey Kara, better luck next year.