Farmers Markets

Here we are at the Farmers Market in Healdsburg on Tuesday night. This past Tuesday was "fry an egg on the sidewalk" kind of hot. I was wicked cranky until Farmer Jeff brought me several cold glasses of water!

We are now selling: bright lights Swiss chard, collard greens, 9 kinds of summer squash, pickling and Armenian cucumbers, and, drum roll please, TOMATOES!!! As of tonight, we have not found any "large" ripe tomatoes, still selling green tomatoes and giving away recipes for fried green tomatoes.

We are delighted to have 16 different kinds of "cherry" or little tomatoes such as: Matt's Wild Cherry, Cheeseman's, Sprite, Sweetie (my current favorite), Mirabell, Yellow Marble, Snow Queen, Black Cherry, Brown Cherry, and Isis Candy, among others.

Getting ready for market takes a couple of hours. First I collect eggs and wash them all, dry them, package them (of course they are color coordinated!) and then label them. Then we pick squash (all nine kinds!), pick tomatoes, check the okra to see if we have any ready, pick Armenian cucumbers, pick pickling cucumbers and then on to the raised beds for chard and collards.

I kinda blew it yesterday. I sprayed the chard and collards with an insecticidal soap which also contained garlic and a little peppermint oil...After I had completely emptied the bottle I read the directions, "apply at dusk for slow drying". GREAT...well, today I see that it completely burned the chard. They will still taste good, but I can't sell them at market tomorrow. Sigh...
(This is a picture of last Sunday's market in Windsor)


We pick the chard and place it directly into an ice chest with ice and cold water. It really helps the greens to stay crisp. Once we have picked everything we bring it into the house and package it or carry it directly to the old truck.

Today I did a little cleaning of the garage to gather a "kit" for market which included bungee cords, tape, zip ties, scissors, water cups, our market sign, rubber bands, and whatever else will fit into the kit.


We love selling at Farmers' Markets. I have made friends with the people we meet at market, going so far as to invite a woman I met last week to join my knitting group! I look forward to seeing the families out for a stroll, engaging people in conversations about our colored eggs, our beautiful produce and just saying hi. If it weren't for the space age blue tooth phones in every other persons ear, I can almost feel that I have traveled back in time to simpler days, days of locally grown produce and folks that know the farmers that grow their food.

Wait a minute...that is what has happened!!! Yeah!!!






One of the fun markets of the week takes place on Tuesdays in Healdsburg. It has the added benefit of being the social event of the week for our little town. Through the summer on Tuesday nights from 6-8 pm, there is a concert in "the Plaza", a.k.a. our town square. One night it might be jazz, another night swing music or big band or blues. No matter what, the square is filled with families and friends out enjoying life.

Thursday night in Windsor is a very relaxed market. Entire families turn out for time together. There is an area for kids to play, a band playing, every other Thursday night there is even a classic movie shown. Once again, we get to see familiar faces. Last year I watched a posse of girls that hung out together, this year they have discovered make up and boys and don't hang out together. Pregnant women last year now pushing strollers, kids growing up, and some folks not with us any more.

This is our life. It is a full, rich and wonderful life. I am thrilled to be living it to its fullest!

Building the Ark of Guilt

Our little town is taking an incredible beating from rain and wind right now, and we aren't there to help. Farmer Jeff and I have taken a little trip and are learning about the storm in panicked calls home and funny text messages, along with getting online to check the rain fall and road closures.

Farmer Jeff and I knew that there would be a fierce storm but knowing about it, living through it, and hearing about it are all different experiences. Before we left Farmer Jeff did what he could to put a corrugated metal "roof" over as much of the chicken pen as possible in an attempt to keep parts of the pen drier. Keeping it totally dry is impossible. He also put an entire bale of straw down to keep the girls from standing in water, as that is not good for them.

While at lunch today, (not in Healdsburg) we were watching pigeons wandering around our feet, mating, chasing after scraps of food, and couldn't help but think of our girls (and 4 boys) at home. I feel sorry for our new girls, the Salmon Faverolles, as they are fancy show chickens and are not used to the slightly more rural way of life. We did, however, come up with names for them. Taking into account the name of their breed, they are now named Coho and Pacifica.

I don't know how many more times we will be able to have internet access, but I'll give y'all an update as soon as I can. In the meantime, Happy New Year!

Taking a break from the Hamster Wheel of Life

Doesn't the routine we fall into sometimes feel like a hamster wheel? Think about it. We go through life doing things that feel like fun, look like fun, but don' t really step out of the routine. Imagine thelittle furry rodents, running happily on those cute, bright red or orange wheels. Have I lost you?

I got off my little hamster wheel of life tonight to enjoy the last night of the Summer Concerts in the Plaza. It was hotter than...well, suffice it to say...dang hot!!! I slipped out of the house after having stoked the fire in our wood burning oven and started my second batch of San Marzano/Roma tomatoes roasting. I drove down to the square, set out my blanket and set up my folding couch, then ran back home to put in yet another batch of tomatoes.

I made it back to the square only to find it packed! I settled in to our camping couch with the newest edition of Gourmet magazine and my iced tea. Ah...I just felt the day and feelings of responsibility fall away. The crowd was in a very celebratory mood, seeing it was the last day of the concerts and all, and just happy.

Our friends joined me (Farmer Jeff was slaving at work) and the delight of the day increased 3 fold. I was not only joined by R, but by her 3 darling little girls, one of whom was flower girl at our wedding. It was so much fun to watch their unguarded enthusiasm and sheer joy of the music, the people and of dancing! The littlest one, I swear, looks like a baby from the twenties. She has a classic poster child look of a baby from that era and is forever laughing. People all around our area were snapping pics of her.

Their papa joined us after his long day at work and just let out a big sigh. He said, "you know, this is the first time we have been here all summer. We have just gotten caught up in our daily life and routine". This is when I whipped out my saying. "You, dear friend", I said, "have been caught up on the hamster wheel of life. Take a break with the rest of us and relax". He sat back in his chair with his cold beverage of choice and relaxed with his family. His girls climbed all over him, he nibbled on the array of snacky items we had pooled together and we just chatted. Sometimes we could hear what the other person said, other times not. It really didn't matter. We just nodded our heads contentedly to the music, smiling.

The band played until dark, at which time we all gathered our belongings and wandered back to our own lives, our own little hamster wheels, humming the bluesy melodies from the band on the plaza.