It’s Farmers Market Time!
Do yourself a favor and find your local farmers market
BY ANGIE FENTON | COURTESY PHOTOS
I grew up in a family where
our mother instilled the value of tilling, planting
and tending to a garden. My three sisters and I
spent long hours pulling weeds and picking off
tomato worms. We delighted at the first sign
of anything sprouting and often ate some of
our yield plucked right off the vine after a rinse
from the hose.
There was nothing like sitting down to dinner
with a plate of freshly picked vegetables you knew
were labored over lovingly.
Somewhere along the way, as I grew older, trips
14 EXTOL SPORTS / JUNE 2017
to the local supermarket became a necessity to
save time, or so I thought. And I forgot how much
better a handpicked peach or pepper tasted than
those purchased from a store.
All of those simple pleasures were revived when
I moved to Southern Indiana and discovered the
New Albany Farmers Market, which is located
on Market Street downtown.
Farmers from all over Southern Indiana set
up booths filled with vegetables, fruits, meats,
cheeses, eggs, milk, flowers and more. You can
buy usual fare or try something more exotic –
like the wasabi flowers and lettuce I fell in love
with last summer.
Prices are comparable to grocery store produce
and products, but at a farmers market you get the
opportunity to talk with the people whose livings
are made from their fare in our community. And
you’re encouraged to ask questions.
But even more than that, shopping at the
farmers market has become a social event and
a reminder of why taking the time to appreciate
the simpler things in life is important.
A couple years ago, I walked through the market