In The Midnight Hour

I’m gonna wait ‘till the midnight hour…
That’s when my love comes tumbling down…
(Wilson Pickett-In The Midnight Hour)

Hello, lovely customers of our little local market of love!!

It’s Tuesday night…and while we feel your love tumbling all over us, constantly, you don’t have until the midnight hour to get your orders in. You have until 10pm, tonight!!

Show us some good love so we can give you the local goods…and, remember, don’t wait until the midnight hour or you will miss out on ALL the fun and love!!!

Peace, Love, and Good Vibes
Cosmic Pam

Walkin' On The Sun

This is a love attack I know it went out but it’s back…
It’s just like any fad it retracts before impact…
And just like fashion it’s a passion for the with it and hip…
If you got the goods they’ll come and buy it just to stay in the clique…

(Smash Mouth – Walkin’ On The Sun)

Well, after a cold and rainy week, it looks like we are full steam ahead with sunshine!! So happy to see it’s return that it really does feel like you want to be walkin’ on the sun…

It’s the perfect week to begin another love fest with our little local market of love! Have you heard? Local is the new fad, it’s hip, it’s rad, and everyone wants to be a part of the local goods and the hippest clique around.

Most of us have been doing local all of our lives, in one shape or another. Most of us were raised on local/seasonal foods, we grew up in towns without big box stores, and we shopped at small, local places. We ate from backyard gardens, farm stands, roadside farm markets. The local grocery.

One such place that meant the world to my growing up, in the West End, was a small corner market called, Kadel’s. It was a local grocery, local meat counter, local produce, and a huge magazine/candy/soda area. One of the coming of age activities of the West End was to be able to ride your bike to Kadel’s. When you arrived, you would see a mountain of bikes that belonged to the kids of the West End. We could shop for penny candy, a cold bottle of soda, and Tiger Beat magazine:) The shop owners were a family. They knew us and our mothers all by first names. They kept a watchful eye on all of us. We would make our purchases, and then venture out to the sidewalk to all sit and plan the rest of the afternoon.

Bike rides in the country? A trip to the magical Pony Hole? Hanging out and listening to music? Swimming? Hanging out at the ball field?

Meanwhile, mothers and friends would be filing in and out for their weekly groceries. Everyone left with a smile, a wave, a shout to each of us. It was the local way in the mid 70s. Shop local, shop the way of the season, and do it in a friendly environment. We didn’t know that one day, this way of shopping and eating would be considered hip. For us, it was a way of life.

This is what our little local market of love reminds me of. A return to the local way of shopping. A return to the local way of eating. A return to the friendliness of local. We’ve got it all…and we do it all, locally. With a smile. With local goods. We see that local is now hip, again. We are cool with that. We are the hippest happenin’ spot around…shop us!

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Come Together!!

He say I know you, you know me…
One thing I can tell you is…
You got to be free…
Come together, right now…
(Beatles – Come Together)

Coming together…it’s what happens at this little local market of love between vendors, customers, managers, the YMCA. It takes each and every one of us to make this whole thing work. To pull it off, each and every week. All components are one with each other…it’s so totally groovy, man…

The market is strong, we are seeing the return of long lost vendors AND customers!!! We are seeing the return of our seasonal produce vendors!!! We are seeing a cohesive and unified band of the equation. Together, we rock and roll this market.

The past week found many vendors out and about doing what we do best…promoting our love of this market! We continue to gain new customers, weekly! We have seen strong growth, strong sales, and strong bonds in the past year and a few months since your manager and assistant managers took complete front and center. Together with the help of the YMCA, your vendors have been able to continue the levels of greatness that we strive for!!

So, here’s to all of us…a big thank you, a big round of hugs, a big dose of love…we come together, over and over, and the market rocks because of it!!

This week…we say hello to the return of Harrigan’s Harvest!! Get the asparagus, pronto!! Thank me, always…

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

The Market, Today!!

Happy Thursday Morning, little local market of love customers!!!

Just a quick note to let you know that if you placed an order, this week, or even if you did not, you may want to pick up that order as soon as we open at 4:30 or race to the YMCA lobby…

Because, for the first time this season, Harrigan’s Harvest is bringing us the first of her asparagus!! These very cold temperatures have forced her to get the first of the crop, out of the fields. She will be set up in the lobby, across from the market area. Get there early, she has limited quantity, and grab what you need!!!

If you have any questions, please contact Beth, Harrigan’s Harvest, directly, via our Grower’s section!!

Make sure to get the first of the crop, today!!

Cosmic Pam

Hey, Now!!

It’s your last call…

Go ahead, race, get those orders in!! You have until 10:10, tonight!!

Your market manager just got out of a video taping/photo shoot kind of night…I am running a bit late so I am giving you an extra 10 minutes before I close up shop!

Make it work!!

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Girls Just Want To Have Fun!

That’s all they really want…
Some fun…
When the working day is done…
Oh girls, they want to have fun…
(Cyndi Lauper-Girls Just Want To Have Fun)

And, that is just what they did, all weekend!!

I have just returned from an entire weekend of some of my most favorite people in my life. My sorority sisters. We had a huge reunion in Lexington. We had big fun. We had big reconnections. We hugged, we laughed, we cried from laughing, we rediscovered what brought us all together as sorority women, as pledge sisters, as bigs and littles, and lifelong friends.

Getting away for a few days can be just what a person needs. Getting away, feeding your soul, filling your heart, and discovering that you really can go back to where it all began!! It takes you to a new understanding. A new sense of what a person is doing in life, and how that person became the person they are, today!

So, this girl had a ton of fun, but now would like to see a ton of fun hit this market, today!!! It’s Tuesday, the market will close at 10pm, this evening, and I urge you to have some fun, place some orders, let this market feed your soul with the goodness of local, from this little local market of love…

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Moondance

Well, it’s a marvelous night for a moon dance…
With the stars up above in your eyes…

Have any of you been outside, this evening, enjoying the warm air, the sounds of spring, the late night light in the sky? This is my kind of perfect evening. Just the first hint of the warm weather seasons, the kind of evening that feels like anything is possible, and the soft breeze that makes you look up to the sky, and want to just twirl around and dance…a moon dance…

On this lovely evening, I would like to thank my lovely market assistants for holding down the market!! I was able to spend a bit of time packing for a weekend get away that will reunite me and a whole lot of sorority sisters in Lexington!! For me, it’s not a simple task of packing and leaving. I need to make sure all of the restaurants are covered, too. So, early, early, I need to have my baking bandana on, and ready for action, as I finish what I started, tonight. Then, I will be out the door to see the girls who helped make me who I am, today…

But, first, I am opening the market, and welcoming back JC Growers, Little Farms, and soon to be back…End Of The Road Farms!! Also, in the coming weeks, we will welcome back Harrigan’s Harvest as Beth bring us her amazing asparagus!!!

And…don’t forget to take advantage of the live plants and lovely herbs that are listed!! They won’t be around for long so get them for your planting needs!!

Also, I would like to bid farewell to our lovely gluten free baker, Bree…Bree is a busy mom of a toddler, is getting ready for the upcoming farmer’s market season, and needed to take a step back from this market…Thanks, Bree!! And, much luck in your next adventure!!

Exciting times in this little local market of love…make sure to get to know us…you will fall in love with the ease, the affordability, the nutrition, the trust, and in local!

See you all when I return…

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Hey, Now!!

So….hey, we are at the bewitching hour of the market closing. But, guess what? I am giving you a bonus until 10:30, for last call!!

I was in a vendor meeting, and then had a second meeting, and then came home to a surprise of fun messages and pictures, via Facebook, from a long ago friend. A fun laugh, and walk down memory lane.

SO…because of my crazy evening, I am giving you this extended last call!!

Go, order, take advantage…make it all work!!

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Good Day, Sunshine!

Good day sunshine…
Good day sunshine…
Good day sunshine…
I need to laugh, and when the sun is out…
I’ve got something I can laugh about…
I feel good, in a special way…
I’m in love and it’s a sunny day…
(Beatles – Good Day Sunshine)

Well, what a lovely, sun filled, warm kind of day!! The kind of day when your soul soars, your mood lifts, and you are right back to the season that starts it all…

It’s Sunday, it was a super groovy day to be out and about and doing whatever it is that makes you happy on these kinds of days!

Now that you are calming down for the evening, thinking ahead to the week, planning your lists of local needs from this little local market of love, go ahead and get your orders in. Do your ordering, now, forget about it until market pick up on Thursday, and watch how easy your week suddenly becomes!!

We have local goodness, affordable prices, nutrition packed real food, seasonal products that are beginning to hit the market, and the happiness that you get from supporting your local market, farmers, growers, producers…

Go ahead…make the day even more perfect. Order from our market!

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

The Price Is Right!

We like to keep our little local market of love customers informed, enlightened, in the know…

Your assistant manager, Mark, passed this on. We field these comments, thoughts, questions, all the time…

Interesting read…and, we want you to be informed…because we love you!!

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Vegetables-and-Fruit

By Tom Cherveny, West Central Tribune, Willmar, Minn.

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Ask people why they shop at farmers markets and they will answer one, two and three: They like the freshness and quality of the produce, supporting the local economy, and the social interaction they find.

“If you ask, price doesn’t enter. It isn’t in the top three,’’ said Ryan Pesch, a market coordinator with the University of Minnesota Extension.

And yet, Pesch and University of Minnesota undergraduate student Maria Keeler found that price represents one of the best reasons to shop the local farmers market.

On average, they found that the prices for traditional produce such as tomatoes and onions were lower when purchased at farmers markets in west central Minnesota as compared to prices at big box supermarkets, traditional grocery stores, and specialized local food stores.

They found that a mixed basket of produce including nine different vegetables, from cabbage to zucchini, cost an average of $12.85 at farmers markets and $14.33 at grocery stores. They published their price study in February.

While farmers markets offered the lower price on average, they also had the greatest variation in prices. Prices could vary from vendor to vendor and market to market, Pesch said. The variations could often be explained by differences in how producers raised their vegetables and the varieties. All tomatoes are not created equal.

Along with a better price on average, Pesch, himself a local foods producer and vendor, argues that shoppers at farmers markets enjoy higher-quality produce as well, certainly in terms of freshness. The lion’s share of produce sold at traditional grocery stores is trucked long distances, he said.

He and Keeler undertook the pricing study to find the answers that a lot of vendors at farmers markets have been seeking. While farmers market consumers may not always be price-sensitive, the vendors are, Pesch said. They are constantly looking over their shoulders at what prices the grocery stores and others are asking.

The Thursday afternoon Becker Market in Willmar was among the farmers markets selected for the analysis. Market director Nancy Johnson said she was not surprised by the findings. Johnson said she has always felt that consumers enjoy "extra good value’’ not only because of price, but because of the freshness and nutritional value of the local goods.

She noted that Willmar is fortunate in that it also has Wednesday and Saturday farmers markets that join large numbers of producers and consumers. "We’re trying to grow the local economy,’’ she said.

The desire to support the local foods economy and to enjoy fresh, healthy foods are the big motivations for consumers at farmers markets whether they live in the metropolitan area or greater Minnesota, according to Pesch. Previously, he studied consumer attitudes at farmers markets in Renville County and found that they matched exactly with their urban counterparts.

But until now, he said there has often been a "mixed message’’ when it came to pricing at farmers markets. Some view them as "overpriced meat boutiques,‘’ and others as "end-of-season bargains.’’ In truth, shoppers can both pay a premium or find a bargain at farmers market, but on average, they get very good value on their dollar, the analysis showed.

About the study:

The price study is based on shopping trips conducted during July and August of last year to farmers markets in Willmar, Alexandria, Benson, Fergus Falls, Lowry, Morris and Sauk Centre. They also shopped major discount and traditional chain stores in the same towns, except for Lowry. They also shopped the Kadejan Market in Glenwood and the Pomme-de-Terre Co-op in Morris.

Prices were analyzed through the season on cabbage, cucumbers, green peppers, onions, string beans, summer squash, sweet corn, tomatoes and zucchini.