Today was the third time in two weeks that I have visited the Blacksburg Farmers' Market. I love it. I can't even eat most of the things there and I love it. Not that it isn't good and wholesome. I can't eat the food because
- I am staying at a dorm for gov school and and so, I can't cook any of the grass-fed meats or organic produce.
- I don't really eat fruits. the taste and texture haven't really grown on me. I'm fine with meat, greens, and grains, but I don't eat much fruit outside of oranges and avocados. It's terrible,I know, but it's something I'm working on.
- We have one mini fridge for 6 people. Space is limited, as is chilling capability.
However, the fruit there tastes better than any I've ever had. Why? because it's all organic and locally produced. It's guilt free! In America there are very few people who have tasted an apple that is actually just an apple. They often eat apples filled with chemical fertilizers and coated in years of sprays containing god knows what.
But even though I didn't eat much there other than pastries (yummy!), there was still so much to buy!
For example, the lovely woman at Birdsong Farms sold such COOL STUFF. She and her husband sell beeswax candles, all natural bug repellent (and another version of the same for pets!), shampoo, soap, conditioner, lotion, and all kinds of other goodies. She told me all kinds of stuff.
Beeswax is AMAZING. Birdsong's beeswax candles are not made out of petrol by-products like paraffin wax. While Paraffin wax puts petrol chemicals into the air when it burns, beeswax actually CLEANS the air! Why use anything else?
I bought some of Birdsong's all natural bug spray. No chemical smell. No yucky taste on your skin! No gross get-this-crap-off-me! feeling. She uses natural repellents. For example, peppermint oil to repel ants, because they hate it! It smells like delicious herbs.
It's awesome. Over here there aren't a whole ton of bugs so I'm excited to field-test the stuff back up in the mosquito-ridden DC area. I'll give you all an update later.
She added me to her mailing list. I'm really excited about her stuff!
I also bought some lip gloss from Native Sprout Soap. It's great. Very soft, and smooth-- uncolored, all-natural and subtly flavored. I have honey and vanilla bean flavor. They also sell all-natural chemical-free deodorant which is great because your speed stick is probably clogging up your lymph nodes, which is how your body gets rid of some of its waste (through sweat). Chemical deodorants and antiperspirants have even been linked to cancer!
I also bought some locally produced honey from Delights Home Bakery (sorry, no website to link to!). Let me tell you honey is the best thing on earth! I'll write a separate post on that later. Anyway, I'm bringing that back to my lovely boyfriend. The folks who sold it to me also sell yummy breads and fruit marmalades and butters which they make using solar power! They pride themselves on their use of all-natural ingredients and their solar panels. They're a lovely little couple.
Although I've been to Farmer's Markets before, the Blacksburg Market is the first time I have fallen in love with the farmer's market. This is because instead of just buying things, I actually talked to the people there about what they did, how they did it, and why they did it. The nice thing about farmers markets is that you know where your food comes from. If you have a question, you can just ask. You form a bond with the people who grow your food. And it's refreshing in this world full of disconnection and nihilism, because we can form real, substantial, relationships with people who seem like strangers. You can work with them and talk and chat and smile and laugh. There's not that awkward i-can't-talk-to-people-i-buy-things-from feeling you get when shopping online or hitting the local Kroger's or Costco. It's a wonderful relationship that makes you feel less like someone's 213th facebook friend. It makes you feel all warm inside.
Also, I got an awesome Tshirt. I will post a pic of that later.
