A hurrah for the farmers!

Things I like:
The Farmer's Market

When I was a teenager I ended up staying a few summers in Wichita, Ks with my extended family. Wichita is the "big city" where I come from and as a result living there was exciting and new for me. I would work during the week and on the weekends I'd wander about exploring the city either by foot or by bus. I spent a lot of time at the library, the river, downtown in general and our version of fancy Old Town. I love old town, in recent years it has become quite popular and there has been a lot of development. Honestly I preferred Old Town when it was well...old. I think the old town development is great for the city but I miss it as I remember it.





On my trips to old town I would take what little money I had accrued ( I was only paid once a month) and I would explore the shops within the old market building, have some gelato for lunch ( heh, yay desert for every meal!), and then walk home. On Saturdays they had an actual farmer's market with locals exhibiting their wares. I only caught this once as everyone was packing up but I loved the idea of it. Everyone selling things they had made and things they had grown. I liked seeing the face behind the objects.






When I moved to Kansas City in 2001 I hadn't thought about farmer's markets in years. Shortly after the move I began to attend a junior college where I met, my now fiance, Greg Brostoski. Greg introduced me to many things in Kansas City including the wonderful Lakeside Nature Center ( we had our first date there....watching a bird circus). I ended up working for the nature center for 4+ years and I loved it. We went everywhere! We spent tons of time in parks flying kites, having picnics, yelling at ducks. He also introduced me to the City Market, which is where the farmer's market is located on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings. I was thrilled, I loved it there was just so much! So many farmers and artists. We picked up Oyster mushrooms which Greg breaded with Italian bread crumbs and lightly fried, they were delicious. The market was wonderful except for the chickens in crates.







When we moved to Columbia we quickly found their farmer's market which although a lot smaller is just as good or better, they certainly are more friendly. Here are some photos ( sorry I only have a crummy camera phone at the moment).