Vive le Farmer’s Market!

It’s early August and our local farmer’s market is in full swing. Last week I arrived late but still managed to pick up romaine lettuce, kale, radishes, english cucumbers, zucchini and basil. I couldn’t help but get the feeling that I missed out on a few things as I noticed all the empty bins. This week I got there right at 11a.m. Holy hoards, Batman! Hoards of people! Hoards of food! I probably picked up more than I needed but I just couldn’t help myself. Potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, peppers, fennel, radishes, peas, carrots, green onions. I’m set! You might have to wait in line but what a treat! If only I could successfully grow some of these things myself.

Bounty of the week!

My dad grew up on a small farm in rural Alberta. During my childhood, I was regaled with romantic stories about life on the farm. Growing up in the Yukon, I had a blissful ignorance about what living on a farm might actually entail. There weren’t too many farms around that I was aware of. As I moved into adulthood, I came to realize that not all was butterflies and rainbows down home on the farm. However, my dad had this innate ability to cast this wonderful portrait of a bygone era filled with fanciful images, characters and adventures. He made magic out of the dung pile. It couldn’t be that hard! Thanks to dear papa, I’ve always sort of felt that there was a little farm girl somewhere inside me. 

Naturally, when I built my house a couple years ago, I also build several raised garden beds and a green house. I had all these visions of bountiful harvests and going back to that pioneer lifestyle of providing for myself. The thing is, I never grew up gardening. My parents don’t garden. So really, I have really no idea what I’m doing.

The first year, my garden made more food then I knew what to do with. It was great! I got this idea in my head that gardening was easy. It must have been a bumper year...

The second summer I was getting married, I was incredibly busy and didn’t have much time to take care of the garden. I planted some potatoes and other vegetables that I figured didn’t need much tending to. It was not a bumper year. The potatoes were small and few. It was winter before my other vegetables had the chance to produce anything. I also started to get the impression that there was something wrong with my soil. It was growing moss on top and it was very dense. I don’t think the roots could grow. I’m still figuring out what is wrong with the soil. I have consulted a few people. Perhaps the soil is too acidic. Perhaps I added to much peat moss. Maybe I should add some ash or manure or compost or dolomite? I’m working on it but apparently these things can’t be cured over night. 

It probably doesn’t help that I often leave town in the summer months. You see, I’m a teacher so I have summers off. It’s really the only time of year where I can travel. So, unfortunately for my garden, it goes for periods of time trying to survive on its own. That also makes it hard to determine if the soil is the problem or just lack of water. 

This year, shortly after the garden was planted, I left town for 3 weeks. I came back and most of it had never gotten off the ground as the little plants just shriveled up and died. What did survive were the plants that had had a head start because I bought them as seedlings. The lettuce was fine, as were the zucchini and the sunflowers. What didn’t survive were the herbs, except a couple dwarf basil plants- no, dwarf is not the variety! About half the carrots didn’t make it. The tomatoes are growing fine, except they never got pruned and are sort of tilted over. I’m not sure how productive they will be. The kale seems to be doing well. Then I left again for a couple weeks. Upon my return this time, my radishes had all gone to seed as well as what did come up from my mesclun lettuce mix. I’m sort of feeling like the mass-murderer of plants. Maybe I’ll just stick to kale. It doesn’t seem to suffer abandonment issues like my other vegetables.

To make a long story short, it appears I’m not quite the farmer that I imagine myself to be. I’ve got a ways to go before I will be producing a bountiful cornucopia from my own backyard. In fact, my gardening skills seemed to have actually gotten worse over these past couple years. Thank goodness for the farmer’s market!

Even though our local farmer’s market only has a few vendors, they produce quite a variety of vegetables. I’m always impressed by the size and quality of the produce that comes out of the Dawson area. In fact, I sometimes wonder why I even bother with my own garden when I can buy everything I might need at the market.

Comparing farmer’s market vegetables to the produce in the store, the locally produced stuff is vastly superior as well. I don't understand why more people don’t shop at farmer’s markets! I've heard some people claim that it's more expensive. But is it really? Obviously I’m biased because I don’t have a big family to feed and I place a great importance on food so I don’t mind spending good money on quality products. However, I feel that people generally (and I’m guilty of it too) waste a lot of food. It goes bad in the fridge before you can use it. The beauty of the produce from the farmer’s market is that it is so much fresher that it actually lasts longer! So actually, you do waste less, which has to be more economical! 

As local produce hasn’t travelled thousands of kilometres, it is fresher and also has not burned nearly as many fossil fuels to arrive on your plate. On this topic, I’ve really started paying closer attention to labels in stores to see where food is actually coming from. You can get a lot of good produce from our southern Canadian provinces if what you need is not available at the farmer’s market. They are a lot closer than California or better yet Chile or South Africa! If you can eat food in season and try to get food from as close to home as possible, you are doing your part to minimize your impact on the environment and are therefore eating more ethically.

The other thing I enjoy about the farmer’s market is supporting the local economy. You know the sad part? Our local producers actually throw out a ton of produce each year because they can’t sell it! I think I’m going to try jarring some local tomatoes this year so that I have a supply for the winter months and that way I can avoid buying canned tomatoes from elsewhere. I’ve never jarred anything except jam so it should be interesting. Speaking of jarring, we are headed out to our favourite fishing hole today. Yes, I’m leaving my garden to its own devices once again...  Depending on our catch, I just may try jarring some trout as well. I suppose it is possible to embrace that pioneer lifestyle even if your gardening skills are somewhat lacking.

À bientôt!