Is it me, or does buying from local farmers just make common sense (for those of us who are business and practical minded), plus give you that warm fuzzy feeling in your gut (for those of us who are also concerned about the environment and healthy eating)?
Not to mention, fresh food just plain tastes better and is better for you than the frozen, sugar/salt-laden, processed, preservative-drenched alternatives!
Add to this open air, locally grown/organic grocery store, a cornucopia for the senses: music, free yoga, fresh squeezed lemonade, wild flowers, live chickens, honey samples, slabs of fresh meat ready to grill and hanging with your neighbors under big shady trees on a lazy Saturday morning.
What makes the West Nashville Farmers Market such a Charlotte Avenue gem, is that it pulls the community together in a public gathering space. Goodness knows we need more of that in our Facebook and iPhone addicted daily reality. It helps our neighborhood feel like, well, a neighborhood!
On our trek last Saturday, it wasn't two minutes before we ran into a couple of old friends and were chewing the fat. We even talked about how we're not that into Facebook anymore. Face to face human contact! Who knew it was still in vogue?
Of course it's hard to resist a purchase or two. My husband bought three jalapenos for a quarter ($0.25) to heat up his homemade salsa later that night. Added to our neighbors' tomatoes from their garden, it was delicious. It makes you never want to buy a jar of salsa again.
We also bought the local Wildflower Honey ($5.50) from Ed Johnson of Goodlettsville. Folks with allergy issues in Nashville are supposed to benefit from eating this locally pollinated honey. Rumor has it (at least around the honey booth) that Vince Young munches on bee pollen as part of his training regimen.
A friend of mine experienced a loss of a loved one, and instead of sterile flowers from a florist or grocery store, I bought her a bunch of wildflowers ($10) from the Flower Girls' Farm. The fresh basil in the bouquet was a delightful, surprise aroma, and the mason jar was a perfect vase.
Finally, I've learned what CSA stands for: Community Supported Agriculture. Several of our friends already belong to CSA's or co-ops where people buy shares of produce from local farmers in advance. We saw several people in line at Delvin Farms ready to pick up their CSA produce boxes.
If you're looking for something relaxing, fun and different to do on a Saturday morning in West Nashville, log off your Facebook account, peel your texting thumbs away from that mobile device you are holding and enjoy the West Nashville Farmers Market!
The West Nashville Farmers Market takes place May-October, Saturdays from 9am to 12pm at the corner of 46th Avenue and Charlotte. The market is under the trees at Richland Park between the tennis courts and Richland Branch Library.
If you want to find out more about community farmers markets springing up around town such as the East Nashville Farmers Market, read about the good folks at Good Food for Good People who have spearheaded these initiatives.
