A Day at the Market

Saturday morning, one of my friends and I biked downtown to go one of my favorite places in Burlington, somewhere that only exists for a few hours once a week. The Burlington Farmer’s Market is located on Pine Street, where vendors from all different disciplines gather to sell their goods. Humans and dogs meander throughout the booths, stopping and sampling goods, buying groceries, getting a meal, and socializing with those around them.

One thing I like about farmer’s markets is you can shop at multiple stands and gather food from different places to make a meal and have an impromptu picnic lunch. It’s a fun way to support local farmers and businesses directly. On Saturday, many people were doing just that. I saw a lot of locals getting food to go and walking around, talking, laughing and shopping for other items. There were a couple of set locations for people to sit on picnic tables or the grass, but most people just walked around while eating.

My friend and I wandered around, tasting some candied nuts from a lady who handmakes nut mixes and nut butters. We got apples from one of the local orchards. Honey crisps are in season and goodness they’re delicious! We also tried granola from a man whose sister developed the recipe back home “down under” in Australia. One stand had homemade hummus, another honey granola bars, maple syrup and treats, spicy jalapeno and raspberry jam. There was a little bakery with a delicata squash focaccia bread that looked amazing, but we passed on to the farm stand nearby and picked up some squash, sweet potatoes, and corn to make later.

There were many farm stands bursting with fresh produce, vegetables and fruit. Flowers in bloom beckoned from stalls in beautiful bouquets, pumpkins and squash lined many of the booths. We found a fun green squash with a curved neck that was called a 'swan gourd'.

Cheese was the second most prominent product, as there are lots of local dairy farms where they produce their own cheese or milk. Maple syrup and maple flavored treats were also heavily featuerd, one stand even combined products and sold 'maple milk'. Some booths were serving hot food or drinks; like VIVID coffee, Indian cuisine, and Momo’s dumplings.

There were a couple artists, with beautiful prints and designs. A booth selling goats milk soap had two baby goats to help promote their product. There were so many fun places to visit that I can't describe them all, but if you ever get the chance I would recommend visiting your own local farmer's market to explore all the goods they have to offer. If you grow food or hand-make items consider signing up and selling your stuff!

While college life gets very busy, hence the irregular and not always cohesive blog posts, it's nice to take a break and go somewhere fun without a plan and just wander around. You never know what will happen. Maybe it'll rain, (which it did), maybe you'll find a cute dog to pet (there were many), maybe you'll stumble on a little artist's barn on the way out, who knows?

Get off the beaten path, make your own way and explore, or even follow in someone's footsteps for a while and see where walking in someone else's shoes takes you. If nothing else, it'll be an adventure!