Photo of our rooster….. ”The Colonel“
It was l dark as I loaded the back of my truck with the 40 pound crates of apples this morning . I kept thinking to myself…”Why am I doing this again? ???
It can’t be for the money. If that was the case, I would be way ahead to work a half a day on my regular job.
But as I took off for town, through the patchy fog, I had this deep sense of satisfaction. Not everybody gets to sell their wares and have a booth at a farmers market.
Mid morning a couple stopped to check out our Royal Court’s: (a strain of cortlands)
We started to talk about the Farmers Market in Dubuque. I’ve never been there but have heard rave reviews on more than one occasion, so I asked the wife..”So tell me, what makes the Farmers Market in Dubuque so special? What’s the draw?”
She said they close off some of the down town area, it’s like a carnival atmosphere. Vendors selling fresh brewed coffee, (smell) kids playing violins on the corners with their music cases in front of them for tipping. (music) Bumping into people having spur of the moment conversations (social), not to mention, lots of fresh produce and baked goods (taste).
I came away from the conversation thinking to myself, I could see a small coffee shack- especially as it gets into Fall.
I did take our CD player with us this morning. We had Alison Kraus as background music @ our booth which added to my enjoyment this morning.
My wife, Judy (another vendor) and I carried a table to the other end of the market this morning to help Joyce (another vendor) get reset up. Somebody said something about feeling like we were in a parade. I suggested we needed to get some fruit and vegetable costumes :
-have someone parade up and down in front of the farmers market 
Can’t hurt right? So it was with these sort of random ideas rolling around in my head that I had this thought….
Our chickens are starting to lay:
My daughter has more farm fresh eggs than she knows what to do with.
Why not try and sell eggs at our booth for the next few weeks?
I told my wife, I would really like to take the Colonel (our family rooster) to the farmers market.
Put him in a cage with a sign that says “Do not touch”
. If you come to our booth next Saturday you may get to meet the Colonel.
Maybe he’ll even crow.
What a great day! The “Colonel” looks pretty cool – so do those Royal Courts! I am going to have to find a local farmers’ market in my area – that looks like so much fun!!
The description of the Dubuque Farmer’s Market sounds much like the approximately-once-per-month Farmer’s Market in Cedar Rapids. (This is different than the weekly market.) The only-occasionally market in C.R. is one you could participate in. It IS like a festival, with foods, flowers, crafts, music, crowds, and people walking their dogs. It covers several blocks and vendors from several communities gather here. You’d fit right in, as would The Colonel, which, BTW, is gorgeous!