This was my first experience attending an indoors winter Farmers Market.
Found it advertised in the local village paper and made sure to go since I heard so many people talking about how great this one was!
Join me on this wonderful tour of all things hand grown and hand made.
As I entered the door, the smell of all kinds of vegetables, home made breads and desserts reached my always searching nose. The sounds of people talking and laughing were plentiful as the soft sounds of a guitar, played by a young woman, filled the air.
So many choices, so little time....
Fresh donuts sit next to hand turned wooden bowls.
Beautiful wooden bowls made from different kinds of Vermont native wood.
Root vegetables and colorful squash filled the tables.
Can you identify all these different kinds of squash?
All grown in the fertile soils of rural Vermont.
Sprouts of many different kinds and flavors got my attention and I think I am going to grow some of them myself in the very near future.
My favorite table was the Emu farmer. Fresh emu meat, eggs, lip balm, sausage, raw food for dogs and many other products helped me empty my wallet.
Emu eggs are huge!! I am going to plant some seedlings in a used shell to get my plants started. Nifty idea, huh?
This cooler was filled with fresh frozen Emu steaks. Lots of good organ meats for dogs as well as feet, necks and other delicious nutritious food for people and the pets they adore. Vermont Emu producers want to hear from dog owners who feed raw.
My nose was all excited about the smell of Jamaican food, so I got some Jamaican stew on top of black beans and rice. it was even better than I had hoped it would be.
He also had lots of preserves and hot sauces made by him and his wife.
Lots of people were buying his mango salsa, 3 and 4 jars at a time, and said it was good on EVERYTHING, including ice cream!!!
Braided garlic at $10 a bunch were big sellers as were any kind of green plants.
Us Vermonters are desperate to see something green and growing this winter.
So the table with herbs and house plants did a brisk business.
Organic vegetables were well represented here. Lots of us were chewing on organic samples of carrots as we walked around.
I saw lots of familiar faces and heard funny stories about some of the products and how they actually were created.
A basket weaving class was in progress as I arrived and its harder than it looks.
But with the encouragement of the instructor you can make one of these incredible baskets in less than an hour!
This colorful yarn represents a local shepherds flock. All the sheep have names.
I want to buy a hat from the wool of "Eunice."
This farmer raises free range, grass fed pork, beef and chicken.
After chatting with her about her cows, I bought 3 lbs of grass fed beef from her Belted Galloway herd.
Might sound crazy to you since I raise beef cattle, but all my calves are reserved by buyers soon after birth and I have yet to raise any beef for my own freezer! The advantage of this is that I can taste other beef from other farmers who raise grassfed beef!! Its a win, win, win.
AND.... I gave her my business card and she may be interested in a steer, heifer or bull calf from my herd. Farmers supporting farmers!
When I wasn't actually sampling, buying or chatting with other farmers and consumers, I was listening to the wonderful music.
Preserves were everywhere and people were filling up bags to send to relatives and friends in far away cities who have no access to fresh, wholesome food.
When I finally ran out of money and needed a coffee, the coffee lady gave me one free. Note the Matell cash register she uses. It works!
As more fresh baked bread entered the building, the crowd of people migrated over to this table to get some samples and buy some loaves.
What caught my eye was this 50 lb bag of sunflower seed. The Emu farmer grew 40 acres of sunflowers this year for bird seed, bio fuel and cattle and emu feed. He had one of his trucks converted to run on the sunflower oil.
$12.50 is a steal for 50 lbs of black oil seed! We pay $19.00 for 50lb at the local feed store and it all goes to feed the flocks of birds who visit my house all day.
I will be buying my bird seed here from now on.
If you are driving around on a Saturday and want to have an incredible Vermont food experience and meet some hardworking rural farmers, come to the Groton Vermont Winter Farmers Market on the THIRD Saturday OF EVERY MONTH, 10 am- 2pm.
Just 2 hours from Chelmsford, Mass, Manchester NH and Springfield Mass.
Take a look at a map and make some plans to come on up and breathe some good air, buy some fresh food and meet some real down to earth people.
On the way home I saw some typical Vermont scenes:
Makes me really proud to live here.
