As spring comes to an end, our garden is beginning to provide us with more than we can eat. Because we have more freshly picked vegetables than we can eat, we very rarely go to the farmers market to shop. This past weekend, we ventured down to Merchant’s Square and took a look at what the farmers had to offer.
There was no shortage of plants either; we came home with a Joe Pye Weed for our new bed in the front garden.
Onions and radishes were also plentiful.
Since I discovered roasted radishes, I very rarely eat them raw but we did make some wonderful kimchi with them. Each week, the market has a core group of vendors that stay the same along with a group that come less frequently. This week, a group of women from the Williamsburg Weavers Guild was at the market and they were demonstrating techniques for weaving and spinning yarn.
A table top spinner being used to spin cotton into yarn.
It’s all about the tension, keeping it taught creates a fine thread.
Not everyone uses a wheel to spin, some do it by hand with a drop spinner.
The color of this yarn is beautiful, it looks fluffy too!
She worked at this yarn the whole time we were there.
The weavers had Darry’s attention and he asked many questions about the process. This weaver had completed all of the work you see there in a rather short time, in between demonstrating the technique and answering questions. After we asked many questions and chatted with the ladies for a while, we headed back to the car.
Not far from where we parked, Darry showed me a patch of King Stropharia mushrooms, a prized edible.
We have a patch of them in our garden too but it is not nearly as successful as this patch.
There were dozens of them and since we did not know anything about the mulch they were growing in, we did not pick any.
For now, we will have to wait for our patch to grow and multiply.
To see the schedule of vendors for the Williamsburg Farmer’s Market, visit the website.
Walking along Duke of Gloucester Street and the farmers market on a Saturday morning is something I truly missed when I was working full time. My schedule shifts included Saturday mornings and I missed most of the spring and all of summer at the market.
There is also no shortage of humor at the market. Look closely, it made me chuckle.
So if the knife sharpener made me chuckle, this made me laugh, a lot. If you need some worm castings for your garden, they’ve got you covered.
When in Virginia, only Virginia Peanuts will do! They are larger than most and very popular in our house.
The Middle Peninsula of Virginia is part of the Chesapeake Bay area and that means Blue Crabs, freshly caught, steamed and ready to eat.
It wouldn’t be fall without pumpkins and there was no shortage of them that morning.
One of our favorite stops is the mushroom booth. They sell a nice variety of wild mushrooms.
On this day, they had Hen of the Woods (above), Lion’s Mane, Oysters, and Shiitake.
Did you know the Williamsburg Farmers Market is a producers only market? Virginia grown and that makes it fresh and local!
These were being sold as pumpkins on branches for use in floral arrangements but the truth is, they are a variety of inedible eggplant.
It’s true, pie fixes everything, try some and see for yourself!
will garden for cake 