Irony and Farmstands

Oh, a little offshoot from my bird post into the land of
irony... Soooo, yesterday I decided to go out and buy a bird
feeder and accoutrements for that. I pondered where I wanted
to get it and decided to give the business to my favorite
farmstand here in town. I reasoned that I most wanted them to
stay in business. Imagine my dismay when I got there and saw
they were closing down on Sunday after 121 years in business!
:-( I felt a little better that this was a positive
personal decision, and not based on finances, but still...
More :-(

We have had three farmstands in town. (There was a fourth one
when I was a kid--a ramshackle little place, which had closed
down by the time I moved back here in 1993.) One, which
well-deserved its renown when I was a kid, is now a behemoth,
and IMHO, in addition to being ultra-crowded, has declined in
quality, which frequently happens when one expands and starts
catering to the masses. I never go there. Then there were
two others that also started in the 1800s, the one that is
closing and an even smaller one that almost went bankrupt last
year. I guess I'll start going there now, although they don't
have much inventory....

**Lin**...

We have a couple of farm stands here, but they close in the winter. I
always overbuy though when I go to them because everything looks so
good and is so fresh. But it does seem to me that when we first moved
here back in the 70s there were a lot more of them around. Maybe the
grocery stores were smaller or maybe it was not as easy to get good
local produce from them. I think people used to buy in greater bulk
from the farm stands because women canned back then.

Jean B....

Marilee...

By "farmstand", do you mean a produce stand? We have "farmer's markets"
around here in some towns, where people with extra garden produce can sell
their stuff, but I don't think I've ever heard the term "farmstand" before.

That's a possibility. I have NEVER canned anything. It
intimidates me. I really should at least try to make the
grapefruit rind pickles that mom made.

Question for thos who can: can any canning recipe be done in
a small batch and just put in the fridge?

Marilee...

I don't know about "any", but there are lots of recipes for refrigerator
pickles, etc.

Marilee