A Farmer at Market

When we first started doing the Sunday farmer’s market in Mountain View, Jeanne was pregnant with our daughter Amelia who will be 19 in three weeks. Those two decades have passed astounding quickly and now Amelia is by my side helping me at the market. During that time I have witnessed babies, who first came riding on their father’s back, grow up and go off to college, and husbands and wives, who used to come with their spouses as part of their weekly routine, show up solo after their partners have passed on.

I can’t honestly say that the farmer’s market was always my favorite way to spend a Sunday. Dealing with the public was never my forte–at the end of a hard week working on the farm I will admit to being irritable and grumpy at times. I once overheard one customer, who assumed I was out of earshot, say to another, “they have nice stuff but the farmer is a bit of a curmudgeon”. My whole approach has been to focus on growing nice vegetables and to let them sell themselves–pandering to the customer was never part of the program.

For stretches of time I was actually able to take Sundays off when we had reliable employees we could trust the market to. But after our last marketeer left at the end of last season I reluctantly stepped back into the familiar role and to my surprise I am finding that I actually enjoy it. Being on the farm all week offers few opportunities to interact with other people and as I age I am finding those interactions both necessary and enjoyable. There are dozens of regulars, some of whom have been coming since the beginning, with whom I share a connection with on one level or another. Whether it is a simple nod of recognition, or a discussion about some shared interest,  I appreciate these weekly check-ins. 

I also think it is important to represent the farm as the one who actually grows what they are selling. In this age when some farms are sending out fleets of trucks to dozens of markets throughout the state every week, it is increasingly rare to find actual farmer/owners standing behind the table at farmer’s markets. Not only do I appreciate the opportunity to answer peoples questions about what we grow, I think it is important to maintain a connection between producers and consumers–a connection that has grown thin as of late. 

So if you are in Mountain View on Sunday, please stop on by. We are there every week between 9am and 1pm and would love to see you.