The season is done and the year will follow shortly, but what a year it’s been! The time has flown and we’ve grown along with it, experiencing much of what a full farming season entails, getting first hand experience with our boots in the dirt. We spreaded soil amendments and took samples, prepared beds both by hand and machine, seeded and transplanted, weeded and hand gathered the fruits (but mostly vegetables) of our labour.
One of the better experiences personally was the time we got to spend sharing those fruits, swapping stories and jokes with the locals who joined us for our weekly market. While the market started slow, the final months were a roaring success and the last market of the year was no exception. On the spookiest day of the year, Torin and I set up the Kwantlen booth only to have several families fawning over the diverse selection of hearty fall vegetables before the market had officially begun. A rainbow of beets, mountains of butternut, acorn and spaghetti squash, bundles of leeks and carrots, potatoes, brussels sprouts, and sweet sweet sorghum awaited purchase, and the day did not disappoint.
It was a parade of characters that day, some in costume and some not; Spiderman serenading us all with a five string guitar and Willie Nelson covers, along with some lesser known comic book characters who were only passing through, even Leeloo from The Fifth Element made a brief appearance. Dogs in costumes, cats AS costumes, along with myself dressed as a cow were spotted (subtle cow joke there), thanks Eric for lending me the costume! Torin was decked out as a farmer, classic!!... He may or may not have actually been in costume.
The day was busy, folks quickly snatched up our carrots and beets, anxious to make some hearty warm soup. Both the bulk beets and bundles were popular, the bundles for their beautiful colour and the bulk for the sweet deal. However there was no sweeter deal than the candy we were giving out, sweet sorghum that I’d been waiting to taste all summer. Some families needed a bit of coaxing to try the treat (suspecting a trick perhaps), but everyone loved it once they’d given it a chew. By the end of the day we had a couple families come back to see how much was left; we’d had more than we knew what to do with since the start and happily saw them off with a shopping bag full of the stuff, with the dad grinning more than his son. I will admit I had to demonstrate the sorghum eating technique with just about every person I gave some to, more than making up for the candy I wouldn’t gorge on that evening now that my trick or treating days were over. Sorghum is no substitute for lunch however, so I got to show off my spots in the nearby senior center’s cafeteria. It was a hit!
Now just because we were having a blast selling produce didn’t mean the learning was over! Torin’s day was about to get interesting, as he spotted an older fellow on a tricked out bicycle who wandered over to buy some beets and leeks. We’ve learned that knowing your market is crucial for every size of farm, but especially ones that sell direct to the consumer, and Torin had unknowingly just spotted a friendly and informative source of knowledge about some of the particulars of selling fresh vegetables in Richmond. This wealth of knowledge became apparent within a few minutes of conversation, and he quickly filled our heads with suggestions for traditional Asian vegetables that would be in high demand if they were produced next year, along with ideas of how to better market the more western fare to many of the market patrons. Many of the customers were with their grandchildren and are of course interested in giving those kids the support they need nutrition-wise; marketing around the health benefits for growing kids could go a long way and help the Kwantlen market continue to grow over the course of next season.
Safe to say our season ended on a high note, with a successful and busy market, along with some good laughs and free candy. I was glad I got to be apart of it! Maybe Rebecca and Mike will let me tag along outside of Agroecosystems next year, though I’ll probably leave the cow costume at home. (Just kidding Eric!)
No comments:
Post a Comment