Summertime in Lowertown means that I have a standing weekend date with the St. Paul Farmers’ Market.
The optimal time to get there is between 9 and 10:30 a.m.
Before 9 a.m. most of the vendors don’t have their produce or price tags out yet. That’s a problem because the farmers’ market brings out my inner bargain hunter.
I actually turn into a 46-year-old sweatpants-wearing couponer named Blanche… and I need my deals!
That’s why I hate shopping before the farmers put their price cards out: I want to compare prices and I’m worried they’ll jack up the kale from $2 to $3 just because they see an eager buyer.
Blanche does not play that game.
After 11 a.m., the farmers’ market begins to resemble the Minnesota State Fair in the worst ways possible: The rows fill up with tourists, strollers, and kids who think navigating a crowd is a contact sport.
By 11:30 the marketplace is so packed that it resembles the opening scene of a horror movie about an airborne pathogen. The veggies also begin looking musty and bees start to gather around the flower venders.
No thank you, mam.
Vegetables from the St. Paul Farmers’ Market in Lowertown.
I’m also terrible at estimating how much food to buy.
The farmers’ market is really cheap, which makes it easy to overbuy.
I typically end of juicing at the end of the week just to get rid of unused vegetables. It’s less about health than avoiding my boyfriend’s side-eye as he watches me toss a rotten head of cabbage.
Running to Guizhou, Minnesota
I’m jogging near Eagan when I come across some fields being worked by elderly Asian farmers.
Asian Farmers in Eagan, Minnesota
The plots were small, and most of the farmers have manual tools. I feel like I ran to Guizhou, or that I’m coming down with some serious heat stroke.
Farmers in the exurbs of Saint Paul, Minnesota
It takes a second for me to realize that these must be the venders from the farmers’ market!
Although I go to the market every weekend, I’ve never thought about where the food is actually grown.
I was fascinated and amused – I go to the farmers’ market because it’s right next to my house, not out of some strong desire to buy local. I’m sure the food is a lot healthier than the imported alternatives though.
