Signs of Summer.....

I’m sitting on my back porch as I type this. The kids are playing tic-tac-toe with chalk on the floor of the playhouse. The birds are dinning on their 6 o’clock meal, attempting to drown out the background noise of the city traffic. Certainly sounds and feels like summer even though my weather prediction was a bit off for last weekend at the market; we saw rain for most of the morning. We tried to will the rain away and by 9am and I thought we had succeeded when the skies broke for a brief period, but then the clouds rolled back in and stayed for the rest of the morning. (The early bird got the strawberries and it wasn't me - I didn't see them until this picture!)

And yet another busy day at the market- there is much discussion about the droves of people out to the market when the weather is unpleasant. It was the first time however that I received more than one request to ‘do something about the parking lot’. I suspect it had a little to do with the rain also but a few customers’ vehicles were trapped in the parking lot longer than they would have preferred. I am putting in a request to the Board of Management (which goes to City Council as the property is owned by the City of St. Thomas) to provide a resolution but in the meantime, please be courteous to other customers and don’t block any vehicles in. We ended up putting a pylon on top of the vehicles that needed to be moved in hopes of catching someone’s attention sooner rather than later. (Sorry S.L. :-() (Colourful picture of Spicer's doughnuts)

I also had a request from the last newsletter to include the address details of the market for those customers visiting from out of town. The newsletter is emailed as a direct update from the blog which includes all contact details at the bottom of the blog page but I realize not everyone hops over to the blog. I will be including that information at the end of the newsletter from now on. Also, a few have mentioned that their pictures/wording sometimes skews on the receiving end of this - I send this out through Google Groups using their strict guidelines for launching an email direct from the blog. I suspect that it could be on the receiver's server setup side of things??? I send a copy of this newsletter to 3 separate email addresses that I own (different web servers) and they all come through properly spaced. Keep me posted...
(Market fan Micah to the right enjoying the famous Horton Breakfast Sandwich combo)

We had 34 vendors at the market this past weekend of Queen Victoria’s birthday (to learn more about her, I highly recommend the movie Young Victoria – she was quite an amazing woman!). All of these things are positive signs of growth and expansion which is the energy of summer. Please continue to share your suggestions, thoughts, and ideas – there are many people who care greatly about this market, and it shows.

We have a few new vendors joining us this week – Jake and Anya from The Dutch Bakery of St. Thomas will be bringing apple fritters by the dozens – they will be inside. And Barb’s Brickle from Port Stanely will be there with traveling cart et al. The coffee guys (Jay and Greg) are adding tea to their venue for the tea drinkers in the crowd (Many Thanks). Danielle from Delightlyfully tea will not be returning to the market this season due to family commitments on her farm.

This weekend will be a first for me - I won’t be at the market! I am away the whole weekend for a meditation retreat so my Mom (Sandy to the right with Ray) and my Aunt (Patti to the far left sitting with Jim & Kathy Lumely) have agreed to hold down the fort while I’m gone. I’m pretty sure I acquired my gift for gab from these two ladies so they will fit right in. Say Hi if you see them and please feel free to have an extra breakfast sandwich for me.

Stay Cool,

Tricia Herbert
Market Manager

St. Thomas Horton Farmers Market
2 Manitoba Street, St. Thomas, ON

(1/2 block North of Giant Tiger on Talbot Street)
http://www.hortonfarmersmarket.blogspot.com/
519-777-9529

May Two Four Plant Sale....

I think we all have an internal time-clock that says it's not really planting time, pool opening time, picnic season, until May two four has arrived. As the weekend draws near, the temperature and the gas prices increase. I try not to get ahead of myself when predicting the weather but yesterday was lovely, today even warmer, so Saturday.......

The Horticulture Society is having the annual plant sale at the market this weekend. The fundraiser for Africa through the folks from Word & Deed are also back this weekend. I go through a list of hosta's with Peter from S-W Gardens every Saturday - hosta's being my favourite plant as they are low maintenance, can be split to fill in space, and are perenials. Then there are the beautiful hanging baskets at both Empire Valley and Erie Gardens. I'm not a big fan of gardening (there; I said it outloud - is that such a crime?), but I love plants and flowers at my house. Hence the joy of purchasing other peoples' joy of gardening - the hanging baskets mentioned above, and the potted herbs from Heritage Line Herbs.

The creativity overflows every Saturday morning as well. I love the new shelf idea McSmith's Organics rigged up! And I frequently stop by Moonstone Aromatheraphy Spa Products (inside) to inhale the scent of Jacqui's lavender and grapefruit scented bath salts. Spicer's was close to sold-out this past weekend too! They start out just literally overflowing from the racks and tables. We moved the coffee guys indoors - a better logistics plan for the breakfast sandwich combo (which saw 131 combos sold in four hours this past week!) I had the first sandwich off the grill for the 2010 season - my heart's at peace.....

Congratulations to Helena Clark who won the customer appreciation draw for this week. Keep smiling and look forward to seeing you at the market!

Cheers,

Tricia Herbert

Market Manager

Better Weather this weekend...

As it probably couldn’t be much worse than last weekend – yet – we still had an amazing opening day! The 80km (so it felt) winds and rain that looked like S-N-O-W at times did not deter our record number of vendors – 32 to start! The pancake breakfast was yummy, the coffee was hot, and the Retreads serenaded us for most of the morning. Nice to see you all back.

The breakfast sandwich combo starts up again this weekend. Ray and Sandy from Farmgate Markets cook up this business venture using eggs from Frisa Farms, their famous Farmgate chemical free bacon or sausage patty on an English muffin, and coffee or juice to round out this amazing deal - $5 to start your morning. I have had withdrawal symptoms from the sandwich since November of last year – I may have to work up to my two count.

Bedding plants and potted herbs are available…. Another reason why the weather can only get better. We have gardening to do; flowers to grow. The folks from Word & Deed will be back on the long weekend with their plant sale as well as the group from the St. Thomas Horticultural Society with their annual plant sale.

We have a mandate for our farmers’ market where we define the term ‘local’ to be a 60 km geographical radius around the market. This includes vendors from London, Aylmer, Straffordville, Thamesford, and as even as far away as Woodstock. I mention this here as I see and hear many different interpretations of the term ‘local’. There are local business owners, local producers/manufacturers, and local service providers. Are the five or so Tim Horton’s local? What about Canadian Tire? And how about the local resident that has a business that retails product where more than 80% of it is manufactured somewhere else (not local; not Canadian). How do you define local? What factors do you consider in your purchasing decisions? Just a little extra food for thought.

Last week I came home from the market with muffins, vegan energy bars, honey, and quiche. There were many other items on my list that I didn’t get to that I have to stock up on this week – fresh pizza, asparagus, spinach, peppers, and potted herbs. It is so exciting to see that much of our grocery shopping can be done at the market first.

Congratulations to Coreyanna Van Laar who won the customer appreciation draw for this week. Remember to put your name in for the draw each week. The box is in the back foyer by the restrooms. Also, please forward this newsletter on to anyone else you know who is interested in fresh produce, a spirited atmosphere, and a connection to community and food. This newsletter is one of our most effective ways to stay in touch outside of market day. Thank you all for your continued feedback.

See you at the market!

Tricia Herbert

Market Manager

Opening Day In TWO sleeps.....

Or one more sleep if you happen to be reading this Friday a.m. (Market Season Begins May 8th; 8am - Noon)

We've primped and primed the building; vendors have been bringing in their shelves and signage. We've rolled out the carpets (okay, floor mats - but that's still exciting as Roto-Static of St. Thomas is sponsoring a large portion of that cost for the market this season!)

The supplies have been gathered and the volunteers scheduled - the pancake breakfast is sizzling. The invitation has been extended to several of our community representatives to help flip pancakes. Oegema's Turkey Shoppe is preparing the sausage; Plamers Maple Syrup have donated the syrup; Berry Hill Fruit Farm is bringing a strawberry compote for topping and the Bulk Barn generously donated the pancake mix. All of this pulled together by the volunteers of the promotions committee. Be sure to say Hi to those dedicated folks too. Thank you J.D. for all that you do.

Someone asked me this week where my lists were. I have taken so many phone calls, emails, visits, and meetings in the past week that the lists have gone out the window. We have many returning vendors, a few vendors have moved on to other cities or sold their business, and a few new faces you will be meeting over the next few Saturdays. In May, we average 24 vendors and building up to average of 40 during peek months of September and October.

Those vendor numbers do not include groups that come to the market who are not revenue generating groups. The Public Library staff, for example, enjoyed their time at the market so much last year, they are returning for two Saturdays each month this season. They bring books for loan and can scan on the spot so don't forget your library card.

We also have fundraising groups that only attend one or two times during the season but are a big draw for customers. The Seniors Center is bringing fresh baked pies this weekend - perfect for anyday, but particularly good for Mother's Day. Plants from Word & Deed are for sale this Saturday and May 22nd to raise money for orphanages in Malawi, Africa. Inside, you will find Mary Edgar selling handbeaded jewelry made by women co-operative groups in Uganda, Africa.

I have followed Mary's journey since I met her at the market last year. She is a volunteer with WENDWOA (West Nile Disadvantaged Women & Orphans Assoc.) who lives part time here in little ole' Sparta, Ontario and part-time in Uganda, Africa. My children and I off-loaded our craft bin at Mary's table last year and she took our beads and string, along with other collected supplies and headed to Africa in November. She works, lives, and counsels with these women and children, assisting in putting their lives back together. Not only are they learning how to build a solid business that can start feeding their families again, but they also are rebuilding homes, schools and communities. Kudos to you Mary! I am looking forward to adding a WENDWOA creation to our growing collection made with some of our donated supplies.

And, of course, like only Canadians can do, we have begun predicting the market-day weather forecast. I have been advised: cloudy, windy, rainy, nasty cold and chance of frost. Sounds like a perfect spring day to me to be starting the 2010 market season!

See you soon,

Tricia Herbert

Market Manager