I expected the farmer's market to be a little bigger than what it was, but seeing the location it was in I understood why. I was not too surprised at how busy it was considering that it is October and many people like buying their produce from farmer's markets nowadays. I was also surprised at how many people were coming from afar to buy items from the market.
Here's some questions and answers I got from Chris:
- When did the farm begin operation? The farm was purchased in the 70's and the participation in the market began in 2006
- How many people work for the farm? Just family members and Chris is the only full time worker, working about 80 hours a week during the summer.
- What did you do for work before working on the farm? Chris did office work for a few months for a catalog, thought it was boring, and then decided to do farm work.
- Is the farm "certified organic"? They do their best to do everything the organic way, but they are not certified.
Some other interesting things I learned was:
- The farm usually brings 60-70 dozen eggs to every farmer's market they go to.
- The dry 2016 summer negatively affected the farm's vegetable growth
- Lettuce,Arugula, or any salad type of vegetable is the most popular item(s) sold at the markets
- They have no farm stand on-site because the farm land is conservation land
I think that the farmer's market scene in Salem is an interesting little part of town that is not widely known (due to the witch reputation). The farmer's market definitely contributes to sense of place for those who go there frequently and for those such as Chris who value the farm very much.
For me, I think it contributed to my sense of place because I did not know about the farm up until I took this class even though I had been to downtown Salem recently.
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