Today the girls and I decided to go to the opening of the season at our local Farmer's Market. Wel almost didn't. Not because we didn't want to. Not because we didn't drive all the way into town already. Not even because we almost got into some horribly snarly wreck. Because I didn't know the location had moved. Talk about looking like a goober to your kids. Caity is very persistent about people knowing where they're going. One time we're a little bit late for an egg hunt because I had the wrong directions and she becomes the time Nazi. Little Booger. He he he. I promised I knew exactly where it was drove right up to it, marveled at the parking spot luck, then realized there was no farmer's market. I got the dreaded "Mo-om! *sigh*" combo. Marvelous. After driving past the some spot twice, and around back once, I decided to Google it. Stupid 3g. Well, crabs in a tool shed. I go to the one place I know will help me. The information desk at my local library. It was two blocks (+/-) down the road. They'd moved (duh!) to a bigger and more central location. YAY!!! Thank yous all around and off we went.
The weather could not have been better for it! It was gorgeous out! That alone gave me a little hitch in my giddy-up, but when we got there I was thrilled (probably more thrilled than the girls) to see a bounce house. Now I have a serious talking problem. Like, I should go to meetings. But they don't have meetings for talking. I'd go to. Every time everyone would be so busy talking that we'd run at least a half hour over before we even called to order! So when I go to the farmer's market, I like to talk to each vendor a little bit (or a lot) and find out exactly what I'm getting and the story behind it. This isn't as much of an oddity as one might think. Well, not at least in the south. We southerners are cursed with (diaharrea (nope) diharrea (nope) diarreah (nope. How in the Hello Kitty do you spell this word?) diarrhea (THAT'S IT!)) We are cursed with diarrhea of the mouth. We regurgitate our life stories to strangers as though they were kin. And in the time it takes to pump your gas, you find out that somehow you actually are related.... at least through your neighbors, and that's good enough! So, to say the least, I never make a quick pass through the market and I never wrap up my conversations in a kid friendly amount of time. Because of this, my kids have the patience of Job. At least I taught them something valuable in life... :/ They run to the bounce house so fast the car key is still warm. I follow over, make sure they're ok and that it's ok to leave them over there, and then go check out the handful of vendors all with in direct eyesight of the bounce house. We were all happy and mommy got to go shopping (well, then mommy went talking because her dumb butt forgot to bring cash. So after I went around talking to everyone we had to go get cash, then come back and shop. The girls were not happy to leave the Bouncy and tried to talk me into letting them stay. HA!).
The main information booth there hooked us up with a kids coloring station (my fridge is sooooooooooooo decorated), some pamphlets and recipes, and a free reusable grocery bag. From there, our journey began....
First I went to a little produce stand (since that's what I was specifically coming to find). Specifically, I was looking for strawberries. Yesterday I bought some strawberries from my local grocery store. They smelled super strawberry-y (?) and looked like rubies. Dropped them into the basket. We get home, the girls are in bed and I go in to snack on some delicious berry goodness. I reach out to grab one... Mmmmmmmm.... *StickYourThumbInMold* GWUH! Honest Injun! The entire center of the pack was moldy. Needless to day, I took them back today and got a full refund. I decided to put that money towards REAL food at the farmer's market . The produce looked delicious. And the prices were really reasonable. It's super early in the season though, so there wasn't much variety. That didn't stop me any. LOL. We ended up straggling out of there with 4 tomatoes, a pint of strawberries, and 5 sweet potatoes. I popped a strawberry as I walked away and almost hit my knees. Foodgasm!
Then I went over to the stand with handmade soaps. I spent a LOT of time at this booth. There were soaps, scrubs, soaks, laundry soap, candles.... all handmade. I was thrilled and spoke to them about herbs and essential oils for a very long time. We talked about home remedies, natural skin emollients and irritants, and the benefits of an all natural way of life. Their soaps smelled AMAZING! There were probably a dozen different scents and I wanted at least 10 of them! I managed to keep myself in check and walk away with two. An amazing Spring Citrus shaving soap and a Jasmine and Green tea bath soap. I don't think I have ever looked so forward to shaving my legs!!
After that I went to the flower stand. They had a HUGE garden type stand with all sorts of plants from flowering, to edible, to decorative. I had been wanting some marigolds, since they are a natural mosquito repellants and the petals (callendula) have many applications. I was under the misconception that I could only acquire these pretty flowers during the fall, so I was beyond ecstatic to find them in the spring. I bought a beautiful 6 pack of multi color flowers. I cannot wait to get them planted.
The girls and I got home and had a yummy dinner of pickle chicken nuggets (strange recipe, but delicious) and sweet potato bites and some fresh slices of tomatoes. The shocker is that my kids do NOT like tomatoes or sweet potatoes. They said these were awesome. They were tickled to have "real food". I was too. Then we made cheese. Yup, Cheese! Really!! That's going to be my blog for tomorrow, with a whole tutorial. We'll be enjoying it this morning with fresh strawberry muffins, sliced strawberries, and honey. This probably has me the most excited I've been in a while just to eat something.
So this is our baby step for today. Go to your local farmer's market. That's it. Go explore, discover, find, and buy. Go home and make a delicious meal with foods you know weren't sprayed in shellac to look pretty for you. Indulge yourself with freshness and exercise. It was an awesome trip and we all so enjoyed ourselves. I would hate to think of anyone missing out on such a great experience. Use the resources around you, available to you, to help your family move to a more natural life style. I actually feel giddy adn empowered by it and I hope you do too!!
Today I hope you enjoy the fruits of your labors.... love!
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