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.

Garden of Love!

As I mentioned in my market opening, last night, the gardens are coming alive, once again!!

I wanted to send a note from Joe and Charlene of Swisher Hill Herbs!!

At last! Spring is here! Trees and spring shrubs are budding, Forsythia is staring to bloom, spring bulbs are in their glory, display gardens are starting to show signs of green with returning herbs and perennials, early vegies are in the ground and- and- and – Herb plants are back on the virtual market this week. Check them out cilantro, dill, lavender, lemon grass, Oregano, parsley, rosemary, Thyme and old Fashioned Rose Geranium. Nothing beats the flavor of your own fresh cut herbs in your favorite culinary creations. See you in the gardens!
Take Thyme, Joe and Charlene

Thanks, Joe and Charlene…spring is in the air, the gardens of love are smiling, again!!

Sugar Magnolia

Sugar Magnolia, blossoms blooming…
Heads all empty and I don’t care…
Saw my baby down by the river…
Knew she’d have to come up soon for air…(Sugar Magnolia-Grateful Dead)

So…Magnolia, blossoms, blooming…do we have a theme? The warm weather, the longer days, the sun, the rain, the hint of even warmer days…April showers, May flowers, and not just flowers but amazing herbs!!!

Yes…you are correct…the market is now LIVE and in action…with live plants!!! It’s that time, again!!!

Swisher Hill Herbs brings us their selection of live herbs!!! This is the time of year that makes me so excited!! During the growing season, SHH are the only herbs that this market manager grows, and uses in her breads!!! SHH are the best…make sure to get your selections ready, place your orders, and let your planting begin!!

Flowers…beautiful flowers!!! As with each year, we bring you the live flowers from the green thumb of Katie Hoover of Sunshine Gardens!!! Her hyacinths are simply amazing!! And, she is running a special price for the market!! Make sure to get them while they last. They are very time sensitive so I suggest ordering, pronto!!

Herbs, flowers, plants…it’s that time, again…and we couldn’t be happier!!

I am opening the market, once again, for the week!! Thank you, always, from the bottom of our hearts for supporting this little market of love…

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Extended Last Call!!

Ok, Kit Kats…

I extended the market while I am finishing up a few Art Affair tasks!! That means, you have until 10:15, and then the market will close for the week!!

Go, run, take advantage of the extra few minutes!!

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Brian Wilson

Drove downtown in the rain…
Nine-thirty on a Tuesday night…
Just to check out the late-night…
Record shop.
Call it impulsive…
Call it compulsive…
Call it insane…
But when I’m surrounded…
I just can’t…
Stop.
(Barenaked Ladies – Brian Wilson)

So, hello rainy Tuesday night!! A total rain filled kind of day. I don’t know about you, but rain filled days, rain filled nights, find me flipping through my albums, old mix tapes, old cds. Yes, I know…why not just flip on over to ITunes. But, there is just something about going through my collections of music…on a rainy evening…memories, nostalgia, messages, fun!!

My West End pals are posting old ticket stubs to long ago concerts, on Facebook. We are all discussing and remembering out first concerts. In the West End, we were youngsters doing a whole lot of fun things!!

I recently had a flashback, after an email chatting about The Beach Boys, Ambrosia, and a 1970s concert…and, it put me in total concert nostalgic mode. Music was what I was raised on. It has been a part of my life for so long. I cannot even explain what a music driven kind of hippie girl, I really am.

Anyway…the talk of The Beach Boys, this week, talk of our earliest concert memories, and this rainy day, made me remember this song, by a long time favorite group, Barenaked Ladies…if you have never listened to them, go, now, find them, listen, thank me, always!!

A total early 90s song, group…I remember discovering them, when I was running around Chapel Hill, when I lived in Raleigh, and was friends with the producer of the local radio station, there.

The opening lyric of compulsive, impulsive, insane, totally reminds me of the way I feel about this little local market of love!! I am totally obsessed, still, with this market!! I am compulsive about explaining and promoting it to anyone and everyone, and on impulse, I just generally, spill all kinds of love about it.

So, it’s Tuesday, it’s rainy, what better way to show your compulsive, impulsive love for this market, but to place your orders?? Go ahead…the holiday is over, spring breaks are ending, the spring weather is finally here…

Make me smile…show us some love!! Go crazy…just order before 10pm, tonight!!

Oh, and find this tune, turn it up, and like I said, thank me, always…

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Biggest Part Of Me

Sunrise…
There’s a new sun arisin’…
(Ambrosia-Biggest Part Of Me)

Hello, 1980…hello, big hair, lipgloss overload, high school slow dances, spring time fun…

So, first of importance…this weather!! I am so loving the warmth, yesterday’s sunshine, the soul cleansing that each new spring day brings!!

Second…as the lyric talks about…Sunrise!! This time of year, it’s all about the sun rising, the change of season, the change in the way the breezes blow through…all promising a change, growth, a season that makes us happy!!

Third…Biggest Part Of Me…my heart and soul and dedication that I give to this little local market of love. From the customers to the vendors to my volunteers to the YMCA…much love, baby!!

Fourth…Marc and Shary Stadler for putting Ambrosia, the band, back on my music radar!!! Shary, of Valley View Woodlands, was dropping their orders off, today, and she was telling me that she and Marc were going to a multi-band concert…with Ambrosia. We always trade music show knowledge, song knowledge, our general love of music…so, of course, my brain immediately went into background music overload!!

So, with this market being the biggest part of me, the biggest part of all of us….let’s open it, tonight, for the week!!

I realize we are approaching Good Friday, holiday weekend, Easter…and, if you are Paul, of YMCA fame, opening season for the Reds…but, try to take a bit of time to get your orders in for market!!

The market is now open…feel free to turn up the volume on Ambrosia, get lost in the late 70s/early 80s, and order…

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam

Last Call!!

You have until 10pm…get those orders in!!

The Weekly Countdown!

Yes, my lovely little market of love customers…it is that time of the week, yet again!

Tuesday evening…the magical evening when we begin the winding down of the market. The orders begin their last minute flood into the market site.

Please remember that it is Easter weekend, a holiday weekend, a great weekend to boast all things local!!

It is also the last day of March…we are on the brink of April!! Or, as I like to refer to it as the greatest month of all year!! The month where the sun opened up and smiled and gave everyone the hippie market manager!! Yes…April is this hippie girl’s birthday month!!

So, in honor of the upcoming Easter holiday, and in helping me usher in the greatest month of the year, let’s get those orders in!!!

We can make it all so easy, all so stress free, all so nutrition filled, all so affordable, and the best….all so LOCAL!!!

Show us some love…I will be watching the orders in the next few hours!! Make me smile!!

Peace and Love,
Cosmic Pam