I never paid much attention to farmer’s markets, but I’m “awoke” now to many new things. I’m tired of being asleep; it’s boring. Life is much more exciting this way, and I’m always learning.

I look forward to going to our small Farmer’s Market every Sunday in the warm weather – every couple of weeks in crappy weather like this. And it’s unique in the winter – Maria and I went this morning to stock up on vegetables.

I am never disappointed when I go to the market. Farmers are known for their hard work but not their creativity. It takes enormous creativity to work on a farm.

In our small town and agricultural country, farmers are at the front of a food revolution; they are launching a course in eating, small business, boldness, and enterprise. They are among the most creative people I’ve ever known, and they are changing our lives here without the support of anyone in any government.

Today, we met a new food warrier, Casey Baldwin, who is getting started with an ingenious idea for a new business – a horse trailer she is converting into a Cafe Cart that can move around and sell coffee and teas, muffins, etc. She’s calling her new business CampCanteenCoffee.

We bought some delicious hot chocolate; she had a table in the basement of a Senior Center in town where the hard and determined farmers were holed up and dry in the rain and ice. Young farmers seemed to have seized on a new way to bring fresh and original food to us.

Casey is an excellent example of the imaginations of these new agricultural startups – no brick-and-mortar, no rent, no employees, and complex state regulations. They make good and carefully prepared food, which used to be hard to find around here.

I’m eager to see Casey’s cart as it figures out where to go and moves around as needed. I like the idea of a cafe that moves around and finds us in our town and neighborhoods. I think it’s a great idea. One former bakery owner sets up a cart in the city Sunday morning to sell donuts, and the lines often go a block long.

 

 

Cindy Casavant is one of my favorite innovative farmers – she calls herself the “Goat Lady” and for a good reason has 70 goats on her farm – “Caz Acres,” and she started coming to our Farmers’ Market in the summer.

She is an excellent baker, and she and her goats make a dozen different things together. She’s a great example of a creative who explores new ways to use her talents and goats and do her own business. So far, so good, she has a lot of followers, and almost everything she brings to the market is gone quickly.

Women like her used to be called “farm wives,” but very few call themselves that any longer. Many are now in productive farming partnerships like the one Cindy has with her husband Larry. He was at a different farmer’s market in Vermont this weekend. I’ve never met him.

She makes and sells the most delicious goat cheese and then adds soap, yogurt, cookies, pies, and delicious homemade pastries that sell out in minutes. In the winter, her goats don’t make cheese, but this did not slow her down. She’s had years of cooking experience and goat experience and is using them well.

She loves doing it as well, and I love nothing more than taking pictures of people who love what they are doing. They are a particular tribe and a close community.

Every time I see her, she’s baked or offering something new. Her soaps are by far the best soaps I’ve ever had. She even has odd and funny names, some of her soap they are often named after her goats. She also makes and sells goat milk hand lotion.

Cindy has a great sense of humor and is both creative and charismatic. I love her smile and the perpetual twinkle in her eyes. She is among the blessed – she loves farming with her goats and cooking. It’s a calling, not a job. You can see her blog or contact her here.

We clicked, and I always looked forward to seeing her. I told her I only take photos of people I like or would like, and I knew immediately when I saw her that she represented something new and original. She is a part of the many creative moves farmers make in the new and rapidly changing post-pandemic economy.

Cindy loves making things (and she has a favorite goat, of course) and talking to people.

I told Maria that I especially like farm women because they are not intimidated or impressed by me – they are used to dealing with significant loudmouths and opinionated men. They are not impressed by us, like my wife.

Women need to start running the world; they really could save us. They have saved me.

 

Cindy is always experimenting; there is always something new.

She is trying to figure out how to sell the things she makes. I can’t wait to see what she decides to do next. I know she sells just about everything she makes, and she has no overhead beyond the farm. She, like the other farmers I am meeting, is brilliant.

And she tells the best goat stories. I hope to visit her goat farm soon; it’s not far away.

It is not simple to sell food at a farmer’s market. We never see the backbreaking work that goes into farming; we see the results. In my photography, I’ve spent a lot of time on farms and have the most respect and admiration for farmers. I wouldn’t last a week on a real farm.

While we rest on weekends, they get up early, pack up their stuff, haul it into trucks and vans, take it to the market, unpack it and often carry it long distances, set up tents and tables, and stand on their feet for hours, often in bad weather. It’s not an easy way to make money, but it is an exciting and creative place; we depend on it for much of our food.

Farming is a calling. And I am often running into people I like and admire and want to photograph. It feels good to be “woke.” I hope Governor DeSantis doesn’t ban my farm; the donkeys would have a tough time moving.

 

 

Edgar and his daughter from “Long Days Farm” come together to set up the most attractive vegetable table in the market. She comes every time.

In the summer, their tables are four times as big and extraordinarily colorful. They are the classiest display at the market.

Like all farmers ( his daughter is in charge of the design, I didn’t get her name, sorry), the farm is challenged by rising prices, inflation, and climate change, challenging the way he grows all his beautiful vegetables and all kinds of garlic.

There is something dedicated and creative about Edgard and his daughter; they stand out in several ways. He’s not a talker; he’s a worker.

He is an organic farmer, and we buy him many fresh and healthy vegetables.

Edgar, Caser, and Cindy challenge many stereotypes people have about farmers – that they are challenging or gruff, uncommunicative, and quiet. They are uncomplaining (except about milk prices)  and long-suffering. However, they still are re-imagining one of the most vital communities in our society and bringing it into the present.

They art savvy and innovative – heroes for feeding us and for finding ways to adapt. I go to the market to inhale the creativity and community there. I can go home and read by the fire. They can’t.

Since coming here, I’ve learned that farming is inherently creative; it calls for hard and focused work, change and innovation, and lots of determination.

Farming is never easy, and we civilians never seem to grasp the fragility of it; we always shave plenty of fresh and healthy food to eat and drink. If the day ever comes when we lose these people, we will feel it in the most challenging and most personal way.

Edgar says the insects don’t go away anymore in the fall because of climate warming; they can gnaw at his crops all year.

It’s something to think about, not hide from.