The Ukiah Farmers Market. What a great place to meet friends every Saturday morning!  A cup of coffee and we're walking through the tables of locally grown, fresh produce, and made goods.

My husband reminded me of a scene in Argentina. Twice a week a grandfather walked by with his grandson in hand to buy local fresh produce out of a neighbor's garage.  Friends stopped to talk, connect, smile, debate, laugh, pick up some fresh veggies and strengthen community ties. I thought about the gift that grandfather was giving to his grandson weekly connecting the two of them as they connected with their community. I was also impressed that the grandfather walked at the grandson's pace discovering the community with each step.

Grandfathers, grandsons, discovery, connecting, community, fresh locally grown produce, friends...

We have a great Ukiah Farmers Market.  When I said friends in the second sentence of this post, I also meant the people behind the tables. They've become Saturday morning friends we look forward to catching up with each week.  The Ukiah Farmers Market feeds community, hearts, minds, and bellies.

It is a different pace of shopping. For those of you who have not been there or haven’t been there recently I invite you to check it out.  According to Scott Cratty who organizes the Ukiah Farmers Market, business has slowed this winter.  Here is the opening of his recent email:

“Been taking some time off from the farmers' market this Winter? It seems that many in the Ukiah area have. Attendance at our local farmers' markets is down sharply relative to the last two seasons, both in Ukiah and in Willits.”

Looking forward to seeing you again at our our local farmers market to talk, connect, smile, debate, laugh, pick up some fresh veggies and strengthen community ties - and get a good cup of coffee on Satruday mornings.