We were bummed we missed the opening market day. Everyone said it was sunny and beautiful outside, and there were tons of people. When we pulled up on Saturday morning for the second market day of the year, it looked emptier than usual. Where are all the booths? Where is everybody? The rain in the forecast was certainly responsible for that. We bundled up in layers of wool, so we stayed warm enough all day. The sun came out throughout the day and the times it rained didn’t last for very long. The weather was much nicer than I’d expected. Bracken did get those strawberries he was hoping for at the farmer’s market. And in the first two pictures you can see the new item I mentioned recently- cedar garden signs!! (How funny is that “slug slime” Jeff added to the slug/snail signs with glitter?) We are really excited about them and will be offering them online as well, in the near future.

Bracken and I left the market for a little while and went to a nearby library book sale with our friends. A market friend told us about the sale last year, we went for the first time, and knew we definitely wanted to go again this year. I think it’s going to be a yearly tradition for us and going with our friends this time made it so much more fun. Jeff and Bracken started reading one of the treasures right when we got back to the booth. A new book feels like a treasure, doesn’t it?

In other market news, we have a new booth structure this year! Jeff and I were both very ready to retire our old wooden booth frame that we had used for so many years. With our money from Holiday Market, one of the first things on our list (besides new tires for our car) was to get a pop-up booth, so we ordered one. There are so many reasons why we wanted to switch to a pop-up booth. So many reasons. I couldn’t even list them all here, but it’s safe to say that we were not sad to see our wood booth go and we are quite happy with our new one. It was time and this is going to be so much better for us in so many ways.

We don’t have to bungy cord our booth to the roof our car anymore. We don’t have to get splinters every time we set it up or remember which piece goes where. We got rid of our old tarp, our previous roof, that leaked so much we got entirely soaked whenever there was a rainy market day. Needless to say, it’s not fun to get soaked and then come home and have to dry out everything. It’s nice to stay dry now. But the aspect that I’m actually most excited about is the time factor. That’s also the biggest reason that gave us a push to switch to the pop-up. It was taking us hours to set up and tear down our booth each week. Hours to set it up in the morning and hours to take it down when market closed. Market security leaves an hour after market closes and we would still be there, tearing everything down and packing it into the car. The market would start getting deserted of vendors, the day was just too long for all of us by that point (especially for a child), and for many reasons I didn’t want to be there that late. I finally said to Jeff: “I don’t want to be there that late ever again. We need to get a pop-up!” And he agreed.

You wouldn’t think a pop-up would save that much time, but it really does. It’s just so much easier (and takes up less space to pack.) There are so many behind-the-scenes aspects that go into market that people don’t realize. It’s a lot of work just to set up and tear down each week, not to mention how much goes into creating everything to fill your booth up. I have so much respect for the hardworking artists and farmers at the market & farmer’s market. When I looked at what Jeff sold at market last weekend (thank you so much to our customers!) and knew all the work that went into making each and every one of those things, I was grateful as I always am for how hard he works to support our family. And I’m glad he loves doing it so much.

One of our booth neighbors looked at our new set up and said something along the lines of “Your booth used to look like a hobbit booth, with all your wood items and your wood booth. Now it just doesn’t look right with your wood items and that booth.” I could certainly understand his point, but I told him I could probably share about fifty reasons off the top of my head why we switched. It was the right choice and it’s better for us in so many ways. We’re talking about some wall hangings and ways we can give it a more natural feel inside, but I like how bright it is and how much light it lets in. I didn’t take a picture yet because we haven’t really got our new way of displaying things ready yet. We’re still working on it. I’m happy to report that as we drove home I looked at the clock and we were leaving 45 minutes after market closed! This was with us fumbling and rearranging how we packed it all in the car, and not really having our system down yet. I think we will be able to get it down to packing up in thirty minutes (or less) and I cannot begin to tell you how happy this makes me!

Bracken found a ladybug and wanted to keep it for a pet. He played with it for a long time before it eventually flew away. He had fun with his little farmer’s market buddy. (I took pictures of her wearing the beehive hat I made for her when she was born, that still fits her thanks to the ribbing, but might not for long. Her parents are beekeepers, so that was the inspiration. I wanted to get pictures of her wearing it for my Ravelry page since it’s so much more fun to have pictures of the knits being worn, rather than just laying flat.) Some other little friends visited and Bracken danced with them to the music and chased bubbles. (I forgot my camera in the booth.) It was great to see market friends again as everyone was coming out of hibernation for the winter, reentering the world of market.

Another market year, here we go!