Hoorah for Harvest Market

Yesterday (Saturday) was the first ever Harvest Farmers' Market in Waverly. The venue was the City Hall/Civic Center Building in the community room and the time was the standard 8:30-11:30 time slot the Waverly Market has used for the past few years.

Yes, we did hold a table at the market and we were pleased to see people coming to support all of the local vendors. Thank you to everyone who took the time to come inside and visit and to purchase some of the wonderful items that could be found there. The only difficulty was the fact that the weather was gorgeous. Doesn't that figure? We had trouble with having decent days for many of our markets this year. So, we schedule one inside and the weather is beautiful.

Rather than focus on what we brought to the market and how sales were, we just wanted to point out the value and quality of the items we found. In fact, we did our fair share of buying.

What did we buy?

• Honey comb (yum) $6
• 2 bags (of 9) of two types of apples: $6
• 2 medium sized loaves of fresh french bread: $7
• an angelfood cake $4
• honey $4
• maple syrup (2 jars) $20

For under $50 we came away with some of the best tasting produce you can find. And, several of these things (honey, maple syrup) will last for some time. The apples give us 7 to 9 days of healthy snacks. The honey comb will last for some time as a nice treat. The bread will go away within a few days, but will still be served over the course of four meals. The cake is dessert for several days. And, even better, we know who harvested or created these things.

Now, assume for a second that we also were there for produce. We could also have come away with winter squash, pumpkins, onions, leeks, parsnips, daikon radish, potatoes, pok choi, kale, green onion and some other things I can't remember at the moment.

If you needed meat, there was bison, chicken and duck available. And, of course, there were baked goods that ranged from bread to pastries to cakes.

Looking for Christmas gifts? There was fine, hand-made jewelry, placemats, decorations and numerous other items.

What a great opportunity for everyone in the area! Our thanks to NIFFP for sponsoring this event, for the city of Waverly for providing the community room and to all who allowed posters to be put up and spread word that this market was going to happen.

We'll be back the first Saturday in December. Don't miss it!