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.
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