The Market

We went to the farmer’s market this morning. We arrived about 8am and were greeted by “hordes of people” shopping for good deals in produce, household items, decorative plants, crafts, etc. We went for the produce, so I wasn’t very interested in looking at what my sister calls “crippy-crap” things.
There were lots and lots of tomatoes, a good amount of squash and similar items, eggs, potatoes, and scatterings of green beans, rhubarb, beets, watermelon, and other goodies. There were also several bakery-type stands with breads, rolls, pies, and other pastries and sweets.
We got tomatoes, sweet corn, and several of perhaps the only peaches that grew in Kansas this year. If you don’t know, there are virtually no peaches, pears, etc this year due to a late freeze this spring. Most trees are barren of any fruit. However, these peaches came, the woman said, from the Ottawa, Kansas area, and she was ecstatic that she had any fruit at all this year. The peaches were at a stand on the back side of the market, but they were going quickly and she had a limited supply.
We also bought a loaf of bread from a bakery whose address is in the 1900 block of East 21st Street in Wichita. I’m eager to try it with some of my homemade peach and blackberry jelly from last year’s crop. I’d love to find some purple (concord) grapes somewhere and make jelly this year from them. When we lived in Western Kansas, a neighbor had some frozen grape product that she gave me. I strained it and made some sooo good jelly. I’d like to do that again.
We will probably visit the market again soon. Cantaloupe are just now coming into season and there will be more tomatoes, melons, and other produce as the summer winds down. Then this winter, we’ll have to “make do” with what we find in the produce aisles of the local stores…always second-rate compared to fresh from the garden.