Today, we pretended that we were on holidays. No gardening, no splitting wood - just wandering through the countryside, looking for farmers' markets.
We needed potatoes and there is no better place to buy potatoes than Brown's Farm. Sadly, our favourite variety - Huckleberry - is not ready yet, but we consoled ourselves with a small bag of red potatoes and enough Music garlic to plant in September. Our own garlic crop failed this year. Too rainy for the spot where we planted it.
Brown's Farms are at the Peterborough Farmers' Market on Landsdown St.
The real fun, the joie de vivre, is at The Peterborough Regional Farmers' Market on Charlotte St. This market does marketing well. We started with a decaf coffee from the happy fellow below.
And, as we were sitting in the shade, listening to some music, today's sponsor walked by. Can you see that she is labelled? Joie de vivre.
We had a great view of Circle Organic's farm stand while we enjoyed our coffees.
They sure grow a wide variety of produce.
Even in black and white, their flowers look colourful.
Many things about this market are quirky.
Take home meals from Drum Rock Jerk were Jerk Chicken and Jerk Pork dinners. Ted has had their food before and he talked about it for days after. I can't wait to try them.
Because this was a holiday, we stretched it out by meandering through the countryside.
Banh Mi Croissant. Yum. From the regional farmers' market.
There were very few cruisers on the Trent at Hastings.
Amethyst Hills Lavender Farm seems to be a well-maintained operation. It's so cool to see folks starting new businesses in the countryside and doing it well.
And, speaking of new businesses - around 45 years ago, Ted was Grand Valley Fortifiers' first customer east of Toronto. They were a fantastic company to deal with. When we saw their truck parked in a Roseneath gas station, we knew we had to say hello. I approached the driver as he was walking towards his truck. I asked if I could take a picture of his truck? He looked at me a bit warily, so I said, "We were your first customer east of Toronto." He looked at me and said, "Van Nettens?" He didn't recognize me, but he sure recognized Ted.
You can see our sponsor clearly on Ted's face. It was so good to see him again. He's been working for them for 37 years.
It was a joie de vivre kind of holiday.
“Joie de vivre is an attitude.
It's a decision you make to live a life of joy.
It's an invitation to this dance called life.
All you have to do is leave the door slightly ajar and listen for the music.”
Jamie Cat Callan
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