First Market: Vibrant Energy Married to the Start of a New Season

For those privileged enough to have homes and community, the beauty of the winter months is undeniable. The blankets of snow that quiet and slow the organisms beneath them and above them and the chill that draws people together in a common search for warmth and comfort; these moments are uniquely valuable. For farmers (and agriculture students) the winter is a time for study, planning and recharging. During the winter we take a collective breath and reflect on ways to improve our farms and us in the spring and summer. As the cold and dark months gradually unroll and slip into the past we are now looking towards a busy summer. Energy abounds as the trees break dormancy and the microbes in the soil gather around them, de-thaw and become active.

Before I begin explaining our last agro-ecosystems class of the spring, I feel that a little backstory is necessary: our monthly farmers market was set to start in the first week of May but due to the gloomy weather through the spring it had to be postponed. Before we were made aware that the market wouldn’t be running until June, we had put our first seeds in the soil. Since the greens were ready to pick we decided to strike out on our own and run a pop-up market in the main foyer of our campus.

At the pop-up market on the Kwantlen Richmond campus we took advantage of the early season foods through the harvest of fresh greens from our terrace garden. With no more web-of-life presentations to be done, our day began with the deposit of a cubic meter of compost onto our terrace plots, feeding future plants and the soil. We transplanted a set of chives onto the terrace as well. After the compost haul we took buckets of water to our leafy greens plot to harvest for salad mixes. After yields were recorded and the greens took a ride in the salad spinner, the salad greens were bagged up for sale at the market, a minute’s distance from the terraces. Weather that day felt like being within a great cloud – grey, cool and heavy with moisture. Although somewhat dreary, the high humidity and coolness was perfect for harvest and the young leaves that we collected were crunchy and full of fresh water.

Separate from the harvest and processing group, a few of us went to the university lobby to set up our booth. We collected all of our tools (sign, pens, cashbox, baskets and bags) and prepared a table that humbly boasted our excellent produce. We sold mixes of lettuce, arugula and kale, and bags of roasted pumpkin seeds from our fall harvest. Human error caused a mix-up with some of our brassica starts that left us unsure of which were cauliflower and which were broccoli, these were given away at our pop-up market as mystery plants – a surprise for the home-gardener. Interested passers-by slowed to a halt in front of our table, intrigued by the sight of fresh vegetables indoors, intuitively understanding that this marks a significant change in the seasons. Our first market of the season was a culmination of excitement and a glimpse into the near future, in which we pull together as a farm team to bring food to our community.