Seen in Town: Farmer's Market Fridays

Every Friday afternoon during the summer and early autumn, there is a small farmer's market on my town green. There are 8-10 booths, with organic vegetables, wild seafood, free-range poultry and beef, fresh fruits, baked goods, cheeses, flowers, soaps and the occasional hand-made items. I'm partial to the soaps and vegetables and there are some good buys once in a while. Some of the produce is very expensive, as are the fish and meats, but it's always fun to walk around. There is always entertainment in the form of a guitar player or small band. It's a nice gathering, although there have been far fewer booths since Irene came through. I think some of the farms must have been flooded or otherwise damaged.

Heirloom tomatoes of every color. I've tried at least a couple of each this year, while I was waiting for my own tomato plants to bear fruit. The yellow tomatoes in the foreground have an almost peppery flavor, sort of like arugula, whereas the darker purple tomatoes are as sweet as can be.

My favorite variety at the farmer's market are the greenish yellow tomatoes in this photo. Up close they're sort of striped and called "Green Zebras." They're the sweetest tomatoes I've ever had. I'm going to buy a plant next year from this grower so I can have my own green zebras in the garden.

The soapmaker's booth—she makes all sorts of cool soaps, many with medicinal properties as well as great aromas. 

Some of the soaps from the booth above that made it home with me, lol: Pumpkin Cloves, Happy Hippy Treehugger, Patchouli, Blackberry Sage, Peppermint Twist and a special holiday bar called Frankincense, Myrhh and Gold, which has a gold-lined pattern throughout.

Organic cheeses, meats and fish are available in these booths.

Another great vendor of organic vegetables. June's heirloom tomato plants were from this farm. I'm going to buy a few plants from them next year, too. My "car buddies" will enjoy the fact this vendor owns the bright red Ford Transit Connect in the left of this photo, a very cool European Ford delivery van imported from Europe. That was enough to get me to his stand the first time, lol.

This small country/bluegrass band was the entertainment last Friday.

Standing, and sitting, listening to the band. People play Frisbee and Hacky Sack and little kids run and dance on the Town Green during these "concerts." I don't think it rained more than one Friday all season, so the farmer's market has become a regular Friday afternoon event for many townspeople. I think it ends soon in early October.

This little girl was running circles around this area of the Green, under the watchful eye of her father (in sunglasses) the entire time I was at the farmer's market, lol. She was making me tired watching her! Of course, I had already done two laps around town and one around the beach roads on my racing bike, so I was a bit tired to begin with!

The booths in the background sell fruit and baked goods such as pies, cakes and various breads. Even in the open air, it's a very aromatic line of booths to meander along!

Last week there were these hand-knit items selling next to the raspberries. Small town sellers!