Vendor's Lifestyle: The First Farmers' Market of the Year

Another ‘first’, this time right in town, just down the hill. It should be easy, no travel or overnight bag required…but there’s always the emotional baggage, the internal persona that mouths off: Your prices are too high…Who’s going to buy anything?…The designs are not right…Enough to make her doubt and wonder if she should go at all…

But, of course, she does…and, of course, it turns out alright. At the farmers’ market, there is a rich mix of food producers, meat producers, bedding plant growers, local farmers and those who come from far away in addition to the artisans, like her, who make articles for personal use and adornment, for gifts, for collectors.

Although she lives in a village that is quiet and small, maybe 3-4000 people, where she can find the solitude and silence that often accompanies creative endeavors, it is always a surprise at how well much of her work sells and, even better than that, how appreciated she feels after these small, colorful, local markets.

She doesn’t have to drive far; she doesn’t have to stay overnight. She is amongst the familiar. There is time for conversations and explanations that focus on the work she does. And there is curiosity, the best thing of all, about the process and the content, especially the special stones that she seeks and sets, taking a chance and following what her heart likes.

It’s always good to go and it’s always good to come home, reinvigorated, inspired by the people she’s met and the customers who have made her feel appreciated and supported.