My long two-pointed ladder’s sticking through a tree
Toward heaven still,
And there’s a barrel that I didn’t fill
Beside it, and there may be two or three
Apples I didn’t pick upon some bough.
But I am done with apple-picking now….
For I have had too much
Of apple-picking: I am overtired
Of the great harvest I myself desired.
There were ten thousand thousand fruit to touch,
Cherish in hand, lift down, and not let fall.
(excerpted from “After Apple Picking” by Robert Frost.
Even if you don’t think of yourself as a reader of poetry, the poetry of Frost is so accessible that you may want to find and read his entire poem, “After Apple Picking” and then another, and another. This poem in its entirety beautifully describes the bounty that we all crave earlier in the season and then grow exhausted from harvesting, so much that the fruit and the work enter the harvester’s dreams, both waking and sleeping.
It is time for the Fayette County Market vendors to take a break as well. They send a shout out of appreciation to the many community members who support the market weekly, as well as those who are new to joining the market community. It is time to take a few months break and then during the short days of winter, to start scanning seed and farm equipment catalogues, exploring new craft ideas or trying out new recipes with family and friends. But during this last market Saturday, you can still purchase items for the coming week or months, as many items available will last for months under the right conditions.
The Market is open Saturday morning from 8:30 to noon and is located in the municipal parking lot on the corner of South Main and East East streets. SNAP EBT food benefit cards, Senior Farm Market coupons and credit/debit cards are accepted—stop by the FM “Info and Children’s Booth” (beside the Sunshine Cleaners) for assistance. Those using the SNAP EBT card for produce receive matching dollar VeggieSNAP tokens ($1 for $1) for additional fruits and vegetables. So,”buy one, get one” for fruit and vegetables, up to $10 EVERY market day.
The following list contains the names and products of the vendors that expect to set up for the Saturday Market. Other vendors may participate as well.
Greens & Greenery (Katrina Bush): Growing Local Food, by Mary Lou Shaw. Home made beeswax lip balms and hand/cuticle cream, decorative corn hangings and broom corn swags. Broad leaf Begonias (indoor plants). Sustainably grown produce (baby leaf lettuce, arugula, red mustard, bok choy, chard, sweet potatoes, garlic, cherry tomatoes, pie pumpkins). Dried herbs — SAGE, basil, oregano, parsley. Paraffin free buckeyes.
Jones Farm Fresh Produce (Jon & Taylor Jones): Butter beans, red potatoes, tomatoes, bell peppers, butternut and acorn squash, pork chops, ground pork, sage sausage patties, maple breakfast links, sweet Italian and jalapeño links, 1/4# and 1/3# hamburger patties, bulk hamburger, chicken breast, whole chickens, wings, chicken patties, sweet Italian and chorizo chicken links. Thank you all for a great season!
Wood by DW (Debbie Welch): Wood primitives and sewn kitchen crafts.
Alpaca Kingdom Acres (Hank White): Alpaca wares: dryer balls, yarns, alpaca fiber clothing and more.
Chilcote Farm (Bruce & Marlene Chilcote): Honey, caramels, and cookies.
Edwin’s Donut Truck (Richard Miller): Donuts, coffee.
Engedi (Beth Day, Alana Walters, Janet Bick): Assorted home baked goods (cinnamon rolls, bread, yeast rolls, cookies, pies, brownies, cobblers, whoopie pies,small specialty bread), Icees, chemical free soap, and a children’s activity.
Katrina Bush is a vendor with the Fayette County Farm Market.
