Adventures at the Farmer's Market (Mom, can we go now?)



So what do you do at 10am when it is already like 99 degrees out??  Yep, you drag your family to the Farmer's Market.  I'm not sure why we chose to go in the heat?  I'm not sure why we decided that yesterday of all days was the perfect time to make this journey.  But, we did and it was great!!!!  It was our first adventure into shaking the hand of those who feed us and we were not disappointed!!!  Now for those of you who have not gone to the Farmer's Market here in town, let me encourage you to get your tushie's out of bed and get there EARLY!!!  While I was impressed with the selection at 10:30 am, I am certain that the selection is even better in the early morning hours.  We started at a tent full of homemade pies-not the best place to start, but oh my everything looked SO yummy!!!  Our strategy was to walk the entire circle and then make our decisions.  There was a lot to look at!!  Beautiful orange and yellow zinnia's, colorful foxgloves, and brightly colored veggies were everywhere.  It was truly appealing to the eye to see all of the colors.  It was also entertaining to listen to the music being played while we shopped around.  We were told that the market wasn't even full of the usual vendors due to the heat, but I have to say that for such a hot day it was well populated!!



Our first stop was at Troyer's sweet corn.  While I didn't get to talk to this family as much as would've liked (the kids were DYYYYYYYIIIIIINNNNGGGG it was SOOOOOO HOOOOOOT), I quickly hit it off with Lis (pictured below).  She was cheerful, even in the heat, and I really liked the conversation I heard her (yes, I was eavesdropping!!) having with another customer.  She was gracious, kind, and happy to share information about their produce.  Their prices were very competitive-I purchased 12 ears of corn (but she threw in some extras when she saw all of the kids) for $5.  When I pulled back the husks I was delighted to see the yellow and white kernels!!  DELISH!!

Lis (Troyer Sweet Corn), Emmy, Fiona, and Peris
I told Lis I would plug her fresh corn and she was delighted!!  If you stop by their tent at the Farmer's Market, let her know that you saw her picture here on my blog.  She was pretty enthusiastic about being included on a post about real food.  I wish we could've talked more-I will look for her again next week!! 
These families work hard for their dollar!!  I felt so good about buying corn from a real person-knowing that no big company had any access to modify this food means something to me. 
Thank you Lis for shaking my hand and giving me peace about what I am feeding my family!!!

As we ventured on (by this point we were all absolutely disgusting!!) we stopped at Prairie Earth Farms out of Atlanta, Illinois.  Two young men were manning this tent, and while they were eager to share their organic methods of growing their produce, I have to admit that I had checked out!!!  They were gracious and informative-I will be going back to their tent next week as well to chat them up.

These green beans looked gorgeous!!  And smelled so fresh!!  I also purchased a pound of Yukon gold potatoes and Derek bought two onions.  Everything smelled....real.  The container of beans cost $2.50, the pound of potatoes was $3 and the two onions were $1. 

I just thought this picture was beautiful.  All of the colors.  Even in the heat I had a great time!!! 

Okay, so the heat was pretty bad, but the produce, fresh baked goods, fresh flowers, and the artisan wares were amazing!!!  If you live in the area and haven't ventured Downtown-get going!!  Check out this (not so secret I'm sure) little jewel that goes on every Saturday morning.  It is well worth it!!  Save some of your food dollars and spend it here-a place where you can meet the people who are feeding you.  They love to chat (even when you are all melting) and love that you want to buy good food from them.