(Quick note before I get started: Today is the last day for Kudzu’s at 603 Monroe. If you want to see the place one last time, get by there today. Java Trio will perform tonight. I will say more about this in a future post, just wanted to get this info up quick since it is very time-sensitive.)
This morning I woke up about 5, and after twisting and turning for 30 minutes I realized that I was not going back to sleep. Normally I don’t get up on Saturday until 8:30 or so. “Now what do I do?” I thought. “I have five and a half hours to kill.”
Then I remembered, “Today is the first day of the Memphis Farmers Market season!” The Farmers Market happens every Saturday April-October from 7 AM to 1 PM at the pavilion at Front and G.E. Patterson. “I have plenty of time to shower and get dressed, and get down there earlier in the day than I have ever been before,” I thought. When I have gone to the market in the past, I have gone after 10 AM, so I have never seen an early morning there. It was 45 outside, but this is April and I’m Paul and I’m wearing shorts. I triple layered a T-shirt, windbreaker shirt, and my PBR hoodie and walked to South Main and was completely comfortable.
I got down there at 7:45 and made a beeline to the back, where the food trucks are parked. There were four options: A mobile juice bar, the Fuel food truck, the Rock’n’Dough pizza truck (serving breakfast slices), and a tandoori cuisine truck serving items like kabobs, curried chick peas, and naan. If it had been a few hours later in the day, I would have been all about some Indian food, but that early in the morning I couldn’t stomach it. I went over to the juice truck and ordered the Paradise, a smoothie made with mango, pineapple, strawberry, kiwi, nonfat frozen yogurt, and apple juice.
I walked around the market and the surrounding area sipping on my smoothie. The Easter Bunny was there handing out treats and posing for pictures with kids. There were crafts for kids as well, Easter headbands with bunny ears.
One of the cool things about the market is that you can bring your dog(s) with you. They’re not allowed under the pavilion, but there’s a pet-sitting area just north of the market where volunteers will watch your dog for you, for up to 30 minutes. They have to be on a leash. The pet-sitting area is nice and grassy and the dogs seem to enjoy running in it. Dogs from huge to small were there, although there were no Chloe-sized ones for those of you familiar with that particular canine. Last summer I came up with a game, based on the fact that everyone posts pet pictures to Facebook and Instagram. The game is, you look at the dogs being sitted and try to figure out which of your friends are at the market. Usually I get 1 or 2 right but not today; I guess none of my friends are morning people either because I didn’t recognize any of the dogs.
I have walked around the market and taken notes on my phone before, but this time I went a step farther: I brought a pen and a journalist’s pocket notepad and tried to make notes on every vendor there. Following are the notes I took, giving myself about 5 seconds to jot a line down about each vendor. Where I saw a website URL, I copied it down. As you will see, not even 20% of the market vendors sell produce, and you can more or less stock your entire refrigerator there.
- Gardens Oy Vey – plants
- Jams, stewed tomatoes, apple butter
- Leafy green vegetable that I’m guessing was kale?
- Pepper sauce
- Pet food/dog treats
- Cookies
- Porch decorations
- The Apothecary Fairy – beauty products
- Breads
- Tomato plants
- More kale/chives/pussy willow
- Mushrooms
- Flower and veggie seeds
- Fabric goods, soaps, alpaca dryer balls
- Steaks, ground beef, roast
- Kettle corn
- Chips and dips
- Farmhouse Bakery Treats (for dogs)
- Seafood
- Pork, chicken, dairy
- Meat
- Produce and eggs
- Boys and Girls Club bake sale
- Bacon, Pancetta, carnitas, sea salt flakes
- Flowers and plants
- St. Bethany fresh produce
- Coffee
- Gluten-free goods, breads mostly
- Eggs, goat cheese
- Vinegars, pestos, herbs
- Raise garden beds
- Carrington’s Catering – artisan sweets, tarts, and savories
- Salsas/hot sauces/Bloody Mary mix (were offering nonalcoholic samples)
- Baby herbs, veggies, edible flowers, grow kits. Vendor was a Downtown poker player, though he hasn’t played recently.
- Nourishe cake and muffin mix
- Jellies and pies
- Farm-raised catfish
- Jellies
- Plants
- Garden art
- Pottery by my friend Boo Gardo
- Spinach and even more kale. What is up with kale?
- Coffee
- Breads
- Pottery by Erica Bone, whose sign said you can find her on social media
- More produce
- Cooper Street 20/20 – prepared meals
- Bird houses
- Fresh flowers
- Mama D’s all-natural frozen treats
- Meats by Claybrook Farms
- Memphis Farmers Market T-shirts and totes
Whew! I think I got every booth in the park there. I could probably write two paragraphs about each vendor, but there just isn’t time today. If any of the vendors read this and would like me to do a longer blurb about you in particular at some point in the future, shoot me an email at paul@paulryburn.com.
I am going to try to do better about making it down to the farmers market this year. I doubt I will make it every week, but twice a month is a reasonable goal to shoot for. This 7:45 to 9 appearance was an anomaly; usually I will get there more like 10 and stay until 10:40 when I have to walk north to make it to Bardog for Panda Time at 11.
Speaking of which, it’s Saturday, and this will be the last normal Saturday for a while. Panda Time at 11, librarian glasses at the Bear between 1 and 2. The next three Saturdays will be crazy with festivals and parties, then it will be Music Fest weekend, then it will be time for the Moody Ques workhorse to step up big-time for BBQ Fest load-in, then it will be BBQ Fest. I better make this one count.