An Inside View of the Farmers' Market

The amount of work that goes into operating a stand at a farmers' market is absolutely amazing. Working in one for a day would be enough to make you appreciate the farmers more than you already do. The work they put into setting up and running their tables at the farmers' market, combined with what they do on the farms, is mind-boggling.

A friend of a friend was a little short-handed at the downtown farmers' market. My friend asked if I'd be interested in helping out. She said he would pay us and it might be fun. Starting a workday at 5:00 in the morning is not necessarily my idea of fun, but I agreed.

We ended up starting at 5:45, despite having gotten up at 4:00. I had thought about not going to bed at all the night before, but decided against it. The highways were practically empty, and the streets downtown were barren except for one pedestrian wandering on a sidewalk. After Sylvia parked in a parking lot that only contained two other cars, we walked around a dark brick building. We got to the other side, and all of a sudden we saw bright lights shining on tables covered with flowers, fruit, vegetables, soaps, baked goods and more. Surrounding the rows of tables were stands where people were selling fruit smoothies, jewelry, clothing and I don't know what else. Around the edges of the market were restaurants and grocery stores with food from Italy, India, China and other places. It almost seemed more like a festival than a market.

The farmer and his two other helpers had started setting up the tables when we got there. They were all very cheerful and energetic. We helped arrange the red tomatoes, purple and white onions, purple and green peppers, purple and white eggplant, yellow squash and green cucumbers. The cabbage, potatoes and melons were added later. It was a beautiful display, which we kept filling with new items as the others were sold. All the food was fresh and locally grown, as farmers' market food usually is.