SPELLING BEE

“When I started counting my blessings, my whole life turned around”. Willie Nelson Wow, here we are in the second week of June and if we use our math skills, we have already used up almost half the year. Maybe now is the time to count our blessings and then look forward to and make good use of what is to come in this warmer time, including no school for the school people, vacation, sun and pool time in the backyard, gardening and FOOD.

How to feed ourselves used to be a rather simple statement in past years but this very trying year brings a whole new meaning to this phrase. Our daily news reports bring us mostly negative news and it seems like there is next to nothing to cheer us up. We all have seen the prices of almost everything go up and continue to do so. Empty spaces exist in almost every kind of store we shop at. This might be the year that is truly going to test our “keep on going” skills. This might be the year to get us to work together more with family, friends and neighbors.

Growing our own food has made a major comeback in the past several years. It also has been a big challenge as home gardening was not something that was passed down to a lot of people. You were in luck if you had people in your life that were able to help you. Internet information is also a major player in being a helping hand. But let's face it putting those tiny seeds in the dark ground and

Time

waiting weeks for results is nothing like dashing into the grocery store and picking up the fresh produce. It's all packaged and ready to take home and enjoy! It is many weeks between the planting and enjoying. I suppose I should mention things like wind, rain, watering, bugs and more bugs, and having to contend with weeds also come in between the planting and enjoying. I did not mean that to be a downer, just be ready to deal with it and look forward to success. Keep on Gardening!

Maybe this will be the year you try out a local Farm Market and see the results of people who have put in all the work and are willing to share with you. Here you can usually meet the people who have done all the work just a few miles away and are proud of the results. Most likely the items have been harvested just hours before and not been on a thousand mile road trip and two day wait in the back room. Remember farm market items are seasonal as well as respecting growing location. This means no pineapple and no winter squash available in June. Note that some markets do allow a small percentage of things sold to be purchased for resale so you still can get your bananas at some markets.

I was Market Manager of our local Farm Market for over 30 years and then LuAnn McNamara took over and has expanded the market to new heights. It will open on June 11, 2022, 8 am to 1 pm and is located at the Westview Shopping Center, just off Highway 55. The market will be set up on Tuesdays and Saturdays and will be open rain or shine. (Market will close if bad weather occurs) That is the area where you can find Speedway, McDonald's and Ace Hardware. Remember the key words local and seasonal. That means not all the vendors will be at the first market and there will be a little bit of a wait for the corn and a lot of wait for the pumpkins.

Dress for the weather, bring your own bags if possible, have small bills and change and enjoy the experience. The market is said to have the best parking of any market in Minnesota. Note that the market will be dog friendly as long as dogs are on no more than a six foot leash held by the owner. SUMMER=MARKET Come and enjoy the ever changing market!

BY BEA WESTERBERG