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Friday, November 6, 2009

Santa Fe Farmer's Market

Santa Fe has a Farmer's Market that is open on Tuesday mornings, Thursday afternoons, and Saturday mornings. While we were in Santa Fe a few weeks ago, we decided to see what the market was all about, so we dropped in on a Thursday afternoon. Where were all the people? The cars? The vendors? We walked into a large building and found a vendor. One. That's right. We were so disappointed. A woman approached us and apologized for the lack of vendors there. She said, "We just started trying to have the market open on Thursday afternoons. This is only our second one. Please come back on Saturday. We'll have over 100 vendors. It is just great."

So Jim and I left, very disappointed. On Saturday morning I told Jim that we should just run up there and see what the Farmer's Market was like. I am SO GLAD that we did! It was just a wonderful experience. Not only was that large building filled, but the vendors spilled out onto the sidewalks, lined up and down in long rows, with white canvas tents protecting them from the hot sun. It was a gorgeous day to be out and about. We just started at one end and began walking.

There were arts and crafts, along with food and vegetables. Some artists were very sensitive about their work, and wouldn't allow me to take pictures. One woman, in particular, actually put her hand up in front of my camera and said, "NO PICTURES, PLEASE!" She obviously thought I looked crafty, as in the artsy way, I guess. Maybe in the other way, too. Who knows. Let me tell you hear and now, that I do NOT have one bone in my body that is crafty. Seriously. Anyway, she made beautiful windchimes with pieces of stained glass, beads, and pieces of mirrors. They were gorgeous, they sounded like tinkling water, and they caught the light beautifully. They were on the expensive side - $60 for a small one (about 18 inches) and $90 for a large (about 3 feet).

Here's some of the vendors set up and the crowds enjoying the day and their shopping.



We came across these two young men, just singing their hearts out, playing their guitars. Some people stood around to listen to them sing.



One woman had these lovely ceramic bowels that she made herself. I thought they were such a pretty color blue.



We crossed the street and entered into the market area. The previous area must have been for artists (I'm assuming.) The first thing I saw were these humongous carrots. I'm talking ginormous. I probably should have put my hand next to them just to give you an idea of how big these are. They are about the width of three fingers at least, and the length of a hand.



We wandered down a little father and heard some more singing. This pair was entertaining the crowds. Their tip bucket was filling up fast. She harmonized so well with him.



We stood and listened to them for a little bit, then continued our walk. It was very crowded, so we kind of went with the flow. I was mesmerized by these beautiful apples. Don't they make you want to take a bite out of them? Mmmm....



I saw this sage for sale.



People burn sage to "cleanse" themselves, to purify their house, and to rid their house of negative energy. If you want to read more about that, click here.

That's a lotta peppers!




We came upon this bread stand. They had many different kinds of bread for sale.





We bought some Mediterranean flat bread (I can't remember the name of it). Jim had apple/cinnamon and I had cherry/pear. They were both delicious. This is some of the flat bread.




There were even MORE entertainers. These guys seemed foreign to me; I don't know if it was because of their clothes or the songs they were singing.



I just loved the whole atmosphere of the market. People were walking around, tasting things, picking up the melon, fruit, whatever, smelling it, talking about it, etc. I got into a conversation with a woman about parsnips. She told me how she cooked with them, threw them in her salads, etc. This guy had a whole big corner booth. He was the farmer, himself. His wife was the cashier. Then he was out there cooking with his home grown vegetables, and giving out samples to the crowd. He had made some Asian slaw that he was just spooning out into people's hands as they walked by. Then he made some fried potatoes with onions and peppers and scooped those out to people. Here he is cooking for the crowd.



Not far away, this woman had pulled up a chair and started playing her cello.



You could tell the more experienced people who were walking around at the market. They had their canvas bags with them. Jim and I had to carry the plastic bags (horror!) that the vegetables came in because we didn't have our own bag. We kind of stuck out like a sore thumb. Oh well, live and learn.

When we were leaving, I saw this bicycle that someone had decorated. I thought that it was a nice finishing touch to our day at the market.




I hope you enjoyed my tour of the Santa Fe Farmer's Market. It's not where we LIVE, per say, but where we were at the time!

If you want to see more Farmer's Market contributions, click here.

24 comments:

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

loved the tour. loved the pictures. loved Santa Fe. But the thing I loved the most was when you said you didn't have a crafty bone in your body. I am sooo glad to know I'm not the only one! I figure somebody has to be here just to admore everybody else's work. I do a great job of that.

You do too it seems! And you take better pictures.

Noelle Johnson said...

It looks like a wonderful market. I especially love the different types of breads.

Allen said...

Remembering the markets. It brought back memories with mom. It was her favorite pass time. She loved the Flea markets and farmers markets the best.

Thanks pat for the awesome tour of the Santa Fe Market.

Abatevintage said...

Oh that looked like so much fun.

I love the red chilli peppers, and the ciello. My husband plays they are so soothing.


Blessings,
Heidi

SquirrelQueen said...

Wow Pat, I want to come down to your market. There is just so much to see and hear, all the music must be wonderful. I love the hanging peppers and those beautiful blue bowls. The breads look delicious. Great tour, I really enjoyed it.

Thanks for taking part in the challenge. Have a great weekend.

Judy

Gail said...

Wonderful look, you described it so well.

I really appreciate your blog, because I am able to see things through your eyes, things I would never see with out you.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful and wonderful post! There are so many things to see, and seems like a fantastic way to enjoy the day.

Anonymous said...

I love to see how the harvest varies around the country. Those carrots look amazing and I bet that sage smelt beautiful. Love the colors and 'flavors' of your shots. ~Jeanne

Lynn said...

First off, your photos are wonderful!
Love Santa Fe and the market looks fabulous. Also, and not surprisingly, there is a festive atmosphere that makes shopping fun. Love the performers just setting up wherever they can.

I had fun just taking stroll through your photos.

wenn said...

fun tour..

Unknown said...

thank you for sharing...LOVE your pics, especially the apples!

Brian Miller said...

what a cool trip and such eclectic artist to keep you entertained. i miss the farmers market...we really dont have a good one around here...

Rae said...

Excellent job Pat. Your post and photos are great. The market sure has a large variety of items. I would have a hard time selecting just a few things. They all look good.

Kathy's Klothesline said...

Thanks for the ride along! That looked like a lot of fun. Did you buy the carrots? I grew some that looked like those and they were bitter. Don't grow them anymore.

Mike said...

You know that I think that you are hysterical and that I love your photos! I thought that I followed your blog already! I fixed it!

Lillian Robinson said...

That's some market! Our local markets don't have the entertainment. They are very basic. I don't frequent them since we grow our own, but I might if they had all that!

AiringMyLaundry said...

Awesome.

I love markets like this.

Liz Mays said...

We have nothing so wonderful near me. I love what you captured in your photos!

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

I did enjoy the tour Pat. You took some great photos - loved the apple one too. Quite an interesting adventure the two of you are on!

Carletta said...

I'm envious, that was a great tour. Much more than the markets here would have. They're all closed now.
Great shots!

The lady with the windchimes was perhaps a little over sensitive and she was in a public place. She missed the free advertisement on your blog. :)

Meeko Fabulous said...

I'm gonna start roadtrippin' it. It would be so neat to see a lot of these things in person!

Betty Manousos said...

Pat what a wonderfu market.
I LOVED the pics. Just gorgeous!!
hugshugs

Ebie said...

Those apples in the bushels look so freshly picked and shiny and delicious!
I understand about taking photos, because every time I always ask if I can take pictures, and there were some who flatly say no.
Enjoyed the virtual tour of your market.
I posted mine late.

Ebie's Farmers Market Challenge.

becky said...

Hi Pat! After your last comment I thought I'd search your blog for the farmers mkt post. I've been in the afternoons in the past, when it is more lively w/ music & crowds like you show here. Now I go before work, so it's easy to get my goodies quick, without the crowds. Did you notice the guy cooking in your post is the same guy roasting chiles in mine?! He's super nice & has the best chiles- I just had some w/ my eggs for breakfast!
:)