The air was crisp, the sky was dark but clear, and a full moon shone brightly. It was four o’clock on a Saturday morning and Ryan and Kim were already in the fields, hand-picking produce for our first farmer’s market of the year in Lafayette. The moonlight illuminated the dew-coated lettuce and damp ground as they picked, washed, and packaged the produce. After everything was ready, they loaded it into the van and, with a little apprehension and much excitement, set out to our first ever farmer’s market.
Down at the market, Ryan and Kim were joined by Kimberly and Adrienne, the two employees who would manage the booth during the market. Together they set the booth up, arranging all the produce in eye-pleasing ways and settled down to wait for customers. They didn’t have to wait long—soon after the eight o’clock opening, the first customer stopped by and bought a bag of red and yellow cherry tomatoes. Then another customer purchased a bunch of cilantro, and another came and picked up some cucumbers. Others stopped by to chat and gather information about our growing methods and products. Before long, market was over and Kimberly and Adrienne packed up and headed back, satisfied that our first market was a success.
The most exciting part about the whole day was seeing how much people truly wanted what we—Freedom Foods—had to offer. They were thrilled with the high-quality products and our year-round natural growing techniques, and genuinely excited we were there. “It was a pleasure for us to serve them,” reflected Ryan afterwards. It made the hard prep work and the early rising worth it. “And, it gives us encouragement to keep doing what we’re doing,” Ryan concluded with a smile.
