When I started selling at our farmer’s market I created a mixture of herbs and flowers that grow in my garden like lemon balm, mint, pineapple sage, calendula, and roses that I dried and sold as tea. Since then I have expanded our gardens, to encompass more plants to dry and use for teas and body products.
I love being part of our farmers market. It’s a place of joy. Even in bad weather we laugh and have fun. We share stories and our wares, and fill our larders with the best food available anywhere.
In Mendocino County, we have voted in a “no GMO” rule which assures us the purity of our products. Twice a year, we have a seed exchange, where we exchange the seeds from our most successful crops. The seeds are free and because they are from generations of local plants, they are the ones that grow best here.
October
Some of the fruit that we have in abundance here this time of year are green tomatoes, pears and apples.
December
Our market shuts down for the season at the end of October here. Today I was thinking about what I would sell at the market if it were open.
We often have pears into December, and a few renegade flowers. We live in the woods, so I make wreaths out of fir, pine, silal and redwood. This year I bought a greenhouse, so I still have greens, and herbs for tea.
The biggest thing that would keep me from market is holiday fever. For me, there are five seasons: spring, summer, fall, holiday, and winter. Holidays are all about cooking, family and keeping the home fires burning.
Check out some of my recipes for the holidays here
Mincemeatfilling, Persimmon Pudding, Easy pear crumble, Wassail
