I LOVE Farmer's Markets

Lately my husband and I look forward to Saturday mornings. We’ve already started a summer routine of visiting our local Farmer’s Market and loading up on healthy produce. Mississippi is an agriculture state so Jackson has a fantastic market full of locally grown vegetables and fruit. My favorite has to be the tomatoes, they are enormous and juicy. They are terrific for tomato sandwiches on a hot summer day.

I have a soft spot for farmers, farm houses, and farms. I suppose farming is in my blood. Even though I don’t grow my own crops I can truly appreciate good looking produce. I feel like I’m Oliver on Green Acres where he gets excited when he sees corn. I can relate to his enthusiasm when I’m at the Farmer’s Market.

I would spend part of my summer at my aunt’s outside of Sacramento. She lived in an old farmhouse and still to this day I can almost visually see myself there and hear the sounds of that old house use to make. Some of my fondest memories were sitting on the front porch swing snapping beans visiting over a cold glass of lemonade. We’d have to pick our own produce for supper and I can still remember the heavy buckets I’d have to drag to the back of the house to rinse off. She’d be in the kitchen over a skillet making fried okra (my favorite). I still can’t make okra like she use to make. I truly feel sorry for those who have never spent time on a farm. They are missing out.

Another fond memory is my Grandpa’s ranch in Northern California. He had a cattle ranch and I thought my Grandpa was as cool as John Wayne. He rode a horse, wore a cowboy hat and boots, smoked a pipe, and had a ranch dog named Jeb. He also had an old tractor just like this one.

One of my earliest memories of this little tractor was that my grandpa was always working on it. He had a barn that he kept it in and I remember he had a row of mason jars nailed above his tool box. They were filled with nuts, bolts, screws, and nails. When he needed something he would unscrew the mason jars. I don’t know why that impressed me so much when I was little but I thought he was a genius. I still can’t help think of Grandpa when I see a mason jar to this day.

Beautiful produce!!! You wouldn't believe how much money I save by purchasing my produce from the Farmer's Markets vs. buying it from the grocery store. AND it's all organic.

Check out these tomatoes!!! They are begging to be sliced up for a tomato sandwich.

Support your local Farmer's Market :)