Market Day is like the opening
night of a well rehearsed play ~ roles have been given, everything has been
planned and prepared….there is an energy in the air as you wait for the final
set up…it’s magically personal in the beginning of the season but by the end it’s
another kinda special… #farmingwitha2yearold
I don’t mean to pop the
proverbial bubble but harvesting, cleaning, bagging, pricing, signing, and displaying
veggies and other gastro delights are all tasks that are both fun and predictable
madness all season long. Let me illustrate with an example from a couple of
years ago…..
It’s 5 a.m. sunday morning and
Farmer Luke and I get up EVER SO QUIETLY in fear of waking Ms. Rea, who at
this time was approaching two…. the thought of having to add that level to our
morning was shattering to contemplate... so… without a word we creep downstairs
and out the door… Granola Girl attends to cleaning, packaging, pricing and
signage for the veggies as Farmer Luke delivers it from the fields…. naught a
word is spoken…. partly because we are focused on task... and partly because at
that hour the moment is fragile with exhaustion and we are ever fearful that the quiet
will be broken…. so we just work… OH and smack mosquito after mosquito as the
humidity rises…. I’ll agree there is a sense of peace and beauty in this early
morning silent dance and for a moment I get swept up into the meditation....ahhhh.... then…… huh?…...damn. I
hear the little footsteps coming down the stairs…. it’s like you get sucked
back into this other existence and instantly you SHIFT GEARS….screeeeeech as the
wheels lock…..
And so the juggling begins ~
consider this Act 2 of this grand play. Remember Ms. Rea is our little farm
girl who wants to help in any and every way possible… cute?…yes. charming?…sure.
adorable?…absolutely! BUT it’s also untimely…. to say the least.
Farmer Luke and I flounder around
taking turns entertaining her with small manageable tasks as we manoeuvre the
minefield of potential power struggles and sudden tantrums…and for the most
part we succeed without injury…soon that wonderful silent dance turns into a square dance as Mr. Finn joins the foray. Although forever
talking to himself or anyone who will listen, Mr. Finn is easily entertained
with a few pieces of lego or a good book ~ as long as you listen to his
commentary…on and off…..as best you can…all morning long......sigh.
So needless to say the
romanticism of having a family farm and all working cohesively together happily
taking the bounty to market is somewhat of a fallacy…at this stage in our life… the
reality is we are just trying not to be late ~ we aren’t thinking of much
else…and after being up late the night before and getting up at dawn and not
stopping in between and adding a layer of Ms. Rea and a layer of Mr. Finn, plus mosquitoes and humidity…well I challenge any semi-stable individual to attempt
THAT every weekend ALL summer long and still see ANY SENSE OF ROMANCE of the farm
or otherwise! .....OK maybe it’s not that bad…but I’m a special kind of me and I’m
prone to moments… :)
….one of my more extreme
end-of-market ‘moments’ and one I am reminded of every so often….involved……McDonalds.
YES, I am well aware of the lack of nutritional components of McDonalds and
don’t get me started on the use of toys to drag your children into their
corporate clutches ~ hey...I’m Granola…I’m all ‘Supersize Me’ed up…I get the
issues…trust me...I do. …Buuuuut I’m also a mom who juggles an enormous amount
of voluntary pressure which results in situations that have me breaking down
and living the reason fast-food exists…it’s true….not very often but it has
been known to happen…and sometimes at the worst opportunity….let me explain...
…after a particularly ‘fun’ and ‘romantic’
late night early morning market day at the end of the season I was completely
spent…in so many ways…remember I also work full-time and travel loads…ya…dude.... I. AM. NUTS. …k, flash back to this particular day.... somehow I made it to McDonalds….I
don’t honestly know how… I’m sure survival had a part to do with it and I
suspect the children GPS’d me there… it was late in the season and my defenses
were down… apparently two boxed processed chicken meals with an age and gender
appropriate toy were purchased and distributed… I remember arriving at the
farmers market flustered, exhausted, anxious and LATE (I hate to be late…). I
piled the children onto the stroller with their Rotten Ronnies… without thinking I turned the corner heading towards our beautiful market
stand full of nutritious organic grass-fed incredible goodness… smiling happily
to the Farmer and relieved I had finally made it…..um….WITH TWO CHILDREN EATING
McDonalds IN PLAN VIEW…….WTF!! Honestly. sigh.
Yup. The worst...right?....nope…it
gets worse… A friend of ours who is also a vendor was serving a very large group
of market customers… he paused what he was doing and said at the top of his
lungs…..”MCDONALDS? What are you doing feeding your children McDonalds? Do you
KNOW what she does people? She owns an organic grass-fed farm!! Her husband is
a farmer!”
….what? the what! ...blink…blink….. SERIOUSLY?... ummm….I felt
smaller than a 1 inch
nugget…
Gulp.
All eyes on me…
…do I take it away from them as I fumble to explain myself then head
over to our stall?
I knew he was kidding in his own
way….and I was able to laugh it off with an “I’M ONLY HUMAN and sometimes you
have to do what you have to do”…but the disappointment was evident as I walked
up to Farmer Luke and he was looking at me with half a smile and eyes saying,
“you are such a goof ~ what were you thinking?! I’m never going to let you
forget this one! hahahaha” ….that’s just it…..I WASN’T thinking…and he hasn’t stop reminding me….
...it has since been diagnosed as ‘end-of-market-madness’….and I'm working on it.