Farmers’ Market: Season’s end
The end of the sales season at the Presque Isle Farmers Market is a bitter-sweet transition for the venders. We all find that preparing for the market can be a lot of work. There is a whole lot of picking and prepping, sometimes by headlamp, sometimes in pouring rain and resultant mud, and sometimes over a hot stove or blasted by an opened oven door. There is a whole lot of lugging as baskets, bins, and boxes to fill the van, the trailer, or the trunk, then locating the signs, setting up the change box, and packing everything so it stays put on the ride. There is varying mileage on Saturday mornings, early to allow time to set out the wares. There are days that it feels like the nearby Aroostook River Bridge is a direct connection between polar regions and the mall parking lot that no amount of quilted Carrharts can completely block. There are days that it feels like the pavement is softening in the summer sun beneath our booted feet. Some days, it rains in buckets and sheets. There are days that the crowds clean us out in an hour and days that we reluctantly pack up and head home after hours and hours of standing without much conviction that we even paid for our gas. At these times, the end of the season seems sweet.
On the other hand, the Farmers Market is an excellent opportunity for us to get to know our customers and for them to get to know us. We can talk about why supporting local agriculture really pays, and not just in our change box. Our wares were not “factory farmed” and did not arrive on a Styrofoam plate, wrapped in plastic and gassed to prevent the appearance of aging while packed in a semi-trailer for miles and weeks. Our customers can feel confident that the purchases are fresh and that there is a concerned and committed farmer who cares about the quality and healthfulness of each purchase. We can educate young people (and less young people) about the source of meat and vegetables and fruit and honey and eggs and milk products and bakery products and flowers and garlic and jams and jellies and … well, you get the picture.
We are a community within a community, and at each level, the relationship is important and well worth the time and effort to nurture it. Our clients become our friends and we enjoy seeing them regularly through the summer. These things make the end, if not bitter, at least picante. So it is a mixed blessing that the Presque Isle Farmers Market season has come to an end. We say “Good-bye,” or more happily, “See you later.” More importantly, we say, “Thank you!”
Editor’s note: This weekly column is written by members of the Presque Isle Farmers’ Market. For more information or to join, contact their secretary/treasurer Steve Miller of Westmanland at 896-5860 or via e-mail at beetree@xpressamerica.net.
