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Tasty food, lamb meat, jams and jellies, fresh produce, and crochet accessories.

Tag Archives: life


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August!

I didn’t forget the blog this time, but August blew by in a flash!

Each year, the farmer’s market slows down once school starts. I get it. By the time you’ve done the school morning, sports practices, laundry, etc. that is required when school is in session, when Saturday rolls around, you might not feel much like getting up early to get to the market. Been there. Done that. Got the t-shirt. There is nothing quite like it. While you’re in the midst of it, it can be challenging.

Market attendance did drop after school started, but it’s still a very good crowd count. I love that customers are still visiting. This means we’re doing something right. I hope the market continues to grow so we can serve more of our community through different programs. The Saturday market will always be the biggest market of the week.

Even though we mainly sell at the Saturday market, the prep takes all week. Reconcile the cash box, write the reports, shop for supplies, cut the veggies, bake the biscuits, make the gravy. I admit I DO NOT cook – Wes does all of the cooking, which is what HE’S really great at! I’m a really great recipe tester and I’m an okay prep chef. I’m the business person. I will balance the checkbook, crunch the numbers, order the supplies, etc. I make the jams and jellies, but I don’t consider that cooking.

Speaking of jams and jellies, we were getting really low on our inventory. Totally my fault. July and August were hot. Miserably hot. I’m not a hot weather person. Give me a good snow and I’ll be the happiest camper on the planet. When it’s hot, the last thing on my mind is making jams or jellies. I kept telling myself, “Just two more weeks and the temps are supposed to break.” It was my mantra. “Only one more week.” “I just gotta make it to Tuesday.” Some market days, I felt like I was going to melt. I resorted to Liquid IV intake to try to stay hydrated (spoiler alert: It didn’t work). If you visited us during the hot days, you probably saw me drenched in sweat, red faced, personal fan around my neck, with an ice water-drenched towel draped over my shoulders and back, drinking as much water as was physically possible. I was very uncomfortable. But we made it through and the heat FINALLY broke. :::::insert Happy Dance here::::::: I made some more jam and jelly.

Thanks to the better weather and our awesome customers, we’ve had really great days at the market. We’ve seen in increase in customers and have a number of customers who return each week to enjoy our food. It’s very cool and makes us smile. We’re proud to share the made-from-scratch food that we love to eat. We recently introduced breakfast wraps and pancake bites. They’ve been very well-received.

It’s such a warm feeling to see familiar faces – to get weekly updates on each person’s life – to watch the kids grow – to say “hello” to the puppers we know and love.

We’ve been doing this for 12 years now. We’ve seen babies grow, friends who tell us about their visits to other countries, vacations, grandchildren, and adventures. Some people tell us about their challenges or their victories. A few have shed their mortal coils and we’ve attended their funerals. That part never gets easier and it’s heartbreaking. But we love them all. If we didn’t love our customers, we wouldn’t do this. The customers (and sometimes their pets, too) make this adventure worthwhile. It’s not just about making money (although that helps). It’s about the relationships.

It’s a small (but growing!) farmers’ market in Western Kentucky. It’s 4 hours on Saturdays. But it’s also a time to get outside to enjoy the weather (even if we all might melt or if it’s raining) and spend time TOGETHER. Even if it’s not OUR market, find a farmers’ market and stop by, buy some healthy veggies and fruit, get some fresh meat. If you’re hungry, get some food to eat and find a picnic table. Keep an open mind about everyone, because we’re all there seeking a connection. Offer up a smile and a “good morning!” You never know how interesting people can be until you make the time to get to know them.

For the month of September, Wes has to work every Saturday and one of our helpers will be out for school activities. We will be a 2 or 3-person crew. Please be patient – we’ll be doing the best we can. Because of this, we will be offering a breakfast-only menu for September. But it will be a REALLY good breakfast, so stop by!

Hopefully I’ll have time to sit down with my laptop and tell you guys about our adventures. Until next time… S.


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Oh, hey there! I Forgot About the Blog.

Like anything that goes into our freezer, if it’s not in front of me, it no longer exists…

I literally keep a notebook with me at all times to jot down anything I have to remember to do. It’s the only way I can keep it all straight and get stuff done. Plus, it gives me a sense of accomplishment. I start a new list each week. Sometimes, it’s one page, other times it’s multiple pages. Let’s face it – we’re all busy. I’m not complaining. Don’t get me wrong. I love this life. But, when it gets busy, days kind of blend together in a blur. In the blink of an eye, a few weeks have passed and I’ve neglected my duties. Looks like I need to add this blog to the list. That being said, let’s summarize the past month.

HOLY CRAP!!!!!

The hubs works 4 days on then 4 days off. On his working days, he works 12 hours. Then he comes home to work more. He cooks, he cleans up. He. Is. Driven. I handle the supplies, the books, the sous cheffing (yep I totally made that up), and whatever else I can do to make his life easier. When he works on Saturdays, he drops our market trailer off at the market, then goes to work. I pick up the team and we arrive soon after to get it all set up and start the day.

Last Saturday, our longest break between customers was 8 minutes. We were able to serve and interact with 97 customers. He’s worked a few Tuesdays alone because he was off from work. The two of us have worked a few Thursday markets because he was off from work.

Between shopping for supplies, cooking, prepping, dishes (OMG – the sheer amount of DISHES!), the laundry, working our jobs, mowing, taking care of animals and just plain RUNNING (some days I have to make 6-7 stops before I can just go home), and life, we have very little free time and it’s all GO GO GO! In our free time, we sleep. Not well in this ungodly heat, but we sleep.

Odd flex, we do a lot of recipe testing. A very cool thing. Sometimes they’re hits, sometimes it’s a miss.

The market season is a long one. Mid April-first week of November. June and July are typically the busiest months. It will taper off when schools starts, then trickle down until the EXTRA SUPER INSANELY CRAZY BUSY Holiday Market to end the season. But we’ll make it. We may need to sleep for the entire remainder of November, but we’ll sleep.

In the meantime, we’re testing out a new product – the Kentucky Hot Brown Biscuit. A scratch biscuit topped with shredded turkey, mornay, bacon, and sliced tomatoes. Last night was the first time we offered it and it was a good seller. We’ll see how it does tomorrow at the big market.

The dream is a food truck. Do we know what we’re doing? Nope. Will we learn? Every day. I remind myself often to “do the best you can, with the knowledge you have and with the best of intentions.” Everything is figureoutable.


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Market Days 06.19.25 and 06.21.25

The longest, hottest, and busiest days of the year are upon us!

The Thursday market is a chill vibe. A time for people who can’t make it during the morning hours to visit the market and relax. It’s usually a much smaller scale than the Saturday market, but there’s food trucks, baked goods, great food, entertainment, cooler evenings, picnic tables, and a good time. This week was a “Taste of the Market” event, which means a local chef shops the market, prepares a dish, and serves free samples. It happens every other Thursday in June and July and is a great way to discover new dishes. It’s always delicious. This week, we had 400+ people visit the Thursday market. IT’S GROWING!!!

On the way home, our truck blew a cylinder in the engine. He limped it and the trailer home. I was thankful we didn’t have to call a tow truck – again. Decisions had to be made. We ended up renting a truck to get our trailer to the market because missing the Saturday market was NOT an option. Friday, he picked up the truck while I was running errands and refilling my mom’s medication boxes. He also checked out a replacement truck. It was a late night of baking for him. He maybe got 3 hours of sleep.

The Saturday market included the local hospital’s annual art and health event – always a very large crowd. Not only did our little market set a new market record with 48 vendors, attendance was 4000+!!! What a lovely day! I’m so proud of the growth of our market! Twelve years ago when we become vendors, there were maybe 10 vendors at the busiest time of the season. Now it’s an experience. Food, fresh produce, music, and a great place for everyone to just hang out and have a good, wholesome time.

It was forecasted to be hot and humid, but no rain. There was a lovely breeze and we had plenty of fluids to drink. We visited with many people – always great to see our customers, old and new. It got VERY warm around 11:30am, but we stuck it out. At noon, we tore it all down. We were 1 worker down, but we did it. By the end, we were hot, tired, sweaty, and hungry.

After the market and loading up, we went to Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch. On hot days, air conditioning is the #1 requirement for lunch. The cold air washing over us as we walked in was so refreshing. We enjoyed many glasses of ice water with lemon, wings, and salad. Then it was time to head home.

I drove worker bee #2 home and came home while he dropped off the market trailer and headed to town to drop off the rental truck. The original plan was for him to come home with his vehicle after dropping off the rental, then we would head back to town to pick up the replacement truck. But, he forgot the key. So, I grabbed his key and headed to him. We parked his vehicle at my office (yes, I have a day job working as a Business Manager – it’s a very odd life I live LOL), and picked up the new (to us) truck. I’ve named it “The Beast.” Hopefully, this truck will last us a while and allow us to keep building this dream on our shoestring budget.

We were hungry, so we ate at a local Himalayan place that offers delicious food. What a great meal! We like to eat at places that will offer us a sample of food from other cultures as much as possible. We watch a LOT of Food Network.

We came home after the meal, sat down for a moment and had a cold beverage before we went to bed, exhausted at the end of this long day. He was up early this morning (he’s a morning person – I AM NOT). I slept for 11 hours and was able to wake up slowly – a nice change of pace.

We picked up his truck and ran a few errands. The rest of the day was chores, laundry, watching some TV, and getting stuff done before our work week begins again.

He brought me in a fresh cherry tomato – our first of the season. It was warm, juicy, and sweet. A delicious reminder that summer DOES have a few good things like fresh tomatoes. Yeah, we’re weird people who like cold and snow; the people who sleep with the window open during the winter.

As crazy as it can sometimes seem, we are blessed to live this life. We are helping make a difference in our community. We are building a dream that will hopefully become a reality when we retire. We are building relationships with our customers while they watch our business grow. It’s an amazing life.


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Market Days 05.31, 06.05, 06.07, 06.12, 06.14

It’s been a minute, but I have good reason to not write.

I’ve been tired….

5.31:
Morning market AND food truck event that night. My day began at 4am and I got home at 10:30pm. Step count: 16,490. It was a VERY good day. The next day, I slept and pretty much stayed on the couch because I am old and my body was hurting. Thank goodness W took a day off. Grateful for the Helpers, who, although they didn’t expect to be THAT busy, hung in there and did good work. My Stepmom B pitched in and helped.

6.5:
First Thursday market. Normally, we don’t do the Thursday markets because of our work schedules, but we will have 3 Thursdays in a row where we’re available. It was a Taste of the Market event and a few food trucks showed up. For a Thursday, the crowd was great. It’s a real VIBE. A time for people to hang out and relax.

Left work, ran an errand, rushed home, changed clothes, grabbed a few things, rushed to the market, set up, worked the market. Home. Slept. Went to work the next day. Home after to prep, load, nap, go to market. Interviewed by the local news. Surreal.

6.7:
Saturday market. Up at 4am. Another Saturday. Moist day. Everything feels wet. Spilled an ENTIRE container of sausage gravy in the trunk of my car on the way to the market. Good crowd. Good market. Lunch with the helpers. CAR WASH to hose down the trunk liner and the trunk. Errands. Home. Sleep.

6.12:
Thursday of a very busy week. Monday was errands with 6 different stops after work. Tuesday Board Meeting. Wednesday Blues Fest and prep work. Thursday is game time. Errand after work, home, change clothes, grab stuff, rush to market to set up in time for open. Art at the Market tonight. My actual kid taught the class. Super proud of her. Good crowd, good sales. Late night.

6.14:
Up at 4am, pick up the kids, stop for drinks and ice, stop for doughnuts, set up the booth, Wes is back (YAY!). Nice to be able to actually take a quick walk around the market, buy things, and visit with fellow vendors. Car accident in the parking lot that I had to handle. Some grump people, but most were pleasant. RAIN. Tore down 15 minutes early. WET. Everything WET. Lunch. HOME. Sleep

Here I am, on my one day off, writing, to get it all out of my head.

It’s a lot. Job. Shopping for weekly supplies. The errands. The bills. Car issues. Did I mention my trunk suddenly decided it no long wanted to open? Yeah. That. I’ll have to get the car looked at this week or next. Might have to rent a car for that because I’ll have no transportation and that’s not an option for me or my life.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks. But it’s been a lot of fun. We’re building something. Not only our personal business, but the market itself. We have a vision for the market and we’re getting there. Baby steps, but it’s happening. I’m proud of the progress. I’ll eventually take a few days off, go camping, and recharge in the quiet of nature, among the trees. But, in this moment, tomorrow is Monday and the list of “Things To Do” begins anew.


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Mama Said There’d Be Days Like This

Some days, if it CAN go wrong, it WILL. How we handle these days defines our character.

My alarm rang at 4am. The was the first day W would have to be at work instead of the market. We would be a crew of three. I looked at my phone and discovered a message from one of our workers, saying they didn’t think they could make it today. Uh oh. The entire season we’d been training the helpers for this day. I sent them a message saying I REALLY needed them today. They said they’d be there.

I loaded up the car, thankfully not forgetting stuff. Yes, I’ve forgotten important things before – the cash box, the iPad, whatever. It happens.

I always text the helpers to let them know I’m leaving, so they’ll be ready. If they don’t respond, I start calling. After a few calls, helper #2 answered. I had woke them up, but they said they’d be ready. I picked up 1. Picked up 2. We stopped to get drinks and ice. Went to the market.

When we arrived, the trailer had a flat tire – a problem for later. I remembered the correct key to unlock it (thank goodness!) and we began unloading. The appliances kept kicking off, so I had to engineer the lines to the generator to get everything going, all at the same time. Yesterday’s menu was the lamb meatballs in a vindaloo sauce over rice. I had decided to bring the rice cooker and cook the rice while we were setting up. While setting up, the rice cooker took a dive off the table, mid-cycle. I had only brought enough rice for 2 batches – no extra. So, I picked up everything and headed to the market kitchen to rinse the 2nd batch of rice and get it started. Later, one of our fellow vendors ran to the store and grabbed me a bag of rice – we are blessed to be part of such a great community of people. (THANKS BECKY!!!!)

Set up took longer than usual with a missing team member, so I was working on the “specials” sign at the last minute. We opened and the day began. It went by in a blur, but it was windy. 4 jars of jam blew off the shelf and broke. The only break I took was to run to vendors to pick up orders of ingredients for future meals. I didn’t even have a moment to take pics of the food or post on social media.

We saw many adorable children and dogs. We spoke with many people. We laughed. We enjoyed the beautiful (albeit windy) day.

When noon arrived, it was time to tear it all down and put it away. I was helping the Market Manager when the helpers decided to take down the canopy. A gust of wind blew in and one of the canopy legs got bent. OUCH! We managed to get it down, folded, and put away, but it will have to be replaced. I’ve already placed the order today, so it will hopefully be here later this week. (SIDENOTE: When we ordered the old canopy, it arrived as a huge air hockey table that we had to return, cancel the original order, and place a new order. I’m hoping that doesn’t happen this time!)

We locked up the trailer, aired up the tire and went to lunch. Taking time after the market to sit down together and enjoy a meal gives us all a chance to decompress. We went to Sam’s after, then headed to drop of #2. I’ve been giving driving lessons to #1, so we ran some errands, then came back to the house to drop off everything in my trunk. Our daughter stopped by and hung out for a bit, then #1 and I logged some more drive time to get them home.

It was a long day, filled will hiccups and a little stressful. But, it is what it is. The rice wasn’t finished by the time we opened, but people graciously waited and were patient. Everyone was kind today. Nothing that went wrong was anyone’s fault. Stuff just goes wrong sometimes. We keep on going, with the best of intentions. The world isn’t out to get us. Patience goes a long way.

On my way home on this very long day, I saw a beautiful sunset. I took a moment to snap a pic and document the moment. There’s something beautiful in every day – we just have to look for it a little harder some days.