It’s that time of year again- market time. The Eugene Saturday Market starts back up again tomorrow. In preparation, we started gathering all of our market stuff to pack in our car. There was rain in the forecast and since we have many of our items at the very front of our booth (where they get the most attention) we decided to make some changes in our display. We can have the roof on our booth covering the front items in a light drizzle. But if there were a heavy rain and any wind involved, our items along the front of our booth would get soaked. We couldn’t have that. (It’s Oregon and it rains a lot and we knew we needed to remedy that.) And as Jeff set up the booth in our living room while I made breakfast one morning, we realized something. There was one thing putting a major damper on our enthusiasm about market- our booth setup. It was time-intensive, labor-intensive, and just too much to be carting to and fro. I can’t even count the number of times we’ve changed our booth setup and display for market over the years. We are always changing it. And sometimes, even though we want to make it simpler and more efficient, sometimes we get carried away and make it more elaborate. We want our booth and display to be the best it can be and to have ample room to display things. We found a wooden shelf that felt like a dream come true (and it was at the time) because we could  fit so much in our booth that way. But it was so much work to put up and tear down each week, not to mention pack and haul. As Jeff and I talked this year, realizing how annoying our booth set up had become to both of us, we decided to make some major changes. We didn’t want our set-up and tear-down to take so long each week. The display that we were doing each and every Saturday would be better for Holiday Market (when we can leave our booth and display up for the duration of the show.) Jeff joked that our set up was like a small house and if we just brought along a woodstove, we’d be all set. So we will no longer be putting up our wooden shelf for market days. That will be reserved for Holiday Market. We moved our items inside our booth, not along the front, so we no longer have to worry about the rain soaking them. We’ve changed it all up. Now it’s easier to pack into our car. It’s easier to set up. And it’s easier to tear down. I can’t tell you what a relief it is to both of us! After changing our booth set up and display, Jeff started giving all the wood pieces in our display a good coat of oil. We’re ready to start another market season.

Have I written here before about Bracken’s “penny bag”? Our friend made him a little bag and he started using it to put his change. Last year he would bring his change to the farmer’s market and buy food. He brought it along to our trip to Florida in February and bought some green beans at the farmer’s market there. He’s been saving up change all winter. Whenever he finds change on the ground, he saves it for his bag. He also found a stash of pennies in Jeff’s work room and he’s been squirreling those away, with Jeff’s laughter and blessing. There were some donations made to it as well, from friends and family. That bag was getting mighty heavy. We told Bracken market was coming again and put the bag by the front door, so we wouldn’t forget to bring it. Then Jeff mentioned to me that the farmers might not enjoy getting paid in pennies (or the customers waiting behind us in line, for that matter.) So today when we went to the grocery store, we put all his change in one of those machines that gives you dollars for your change. So now he’s all set for the farmer’s market tomorrow. All the things he’s been telling me he wants to buy (pears, plums, blueberries) are not in season yet, but I’m sure he’ll find plenty of good things to buy with his money there. 

If you are a local and are coming to opening market day tomorrow, we welcome you to visit our booth and say hello. You can find us in the same booth space as last season (in booth 350, on the park blog with the stage. You can see a map of the market here.) Bracken has been telling me all week that he’s happy market will start again and about the friends he wants to visit. I’m looking forward to telling him in the morning, “today’s the day!”