Farmer's Market Ceremonial Style

Not a truck-farm; a bike-farm this week

This past Saturday the Farmer's Market coincided with the Gallup's 89th Inter-Tribal Ceremonial parade in downtown Gallup. If you've never visited or lived in Gallup during ceremonial week, the event is really big deal with thousands and thousands of visitors in town.

Pickling Cucumbers, $3/lbs

The market manager Carole and Pete of Serendipity Farms gave me the heads up that usually Ceremonial weekend was an off-week for the market as road closures all around downtown make it hard for both customers and growers to get to the downtown walkway. Additionally, most people watching the parade are reluctant to buy produce and then carry it for hours in the midday heat before they reach home. Despite the warning, I and most other growers still braved the crowds and where set up much as any week.

Almost fully loaded at 70 lbs

The twist was how to get my dozen or so baskets of produce down there if the roads where closed starting at 6 am. I decided my trusty BOB trailer would suffice at transporting a much paired down harvest, and so I loaded it down with 70 lbs. of the more valuable by weight produce. Onions and beets stayed home. The select harvest included 30 lbs of zucchini, 20 lbs of pickling cucumbers, and 10 lbs. of rhubarb, leeks, shallots, mint and other herbs. My rolled-up table and bags surely brought the total weight up to around 80 lbs, and I gingerly made it south across the train tracks, and along the parade route to the market just as it opened at 8:30. Most regular customers stayed home as predicted, and I spent most of the day explaining what leeks are. Not the usual customer demographics. Yet with perseverance through the end of the parade and beyond (1:15), I finally came home with and empty trailer.