A Trip to the Bucket

Yesterday we ventured out in the rain to explore the Pawtucket Winter Farmer's Market at Hope Artiste Village. The Hope Artiste Village on Main Street, was the largest Mill restoration in Rhode Island. The building is beautiful, and I did think it was the perfect place for the Farmer's Market, making the trip in the pouring rain not such a big deal. As for the Market itself, I have been thinking about this since we left there. In fact Mad Dog and I talked about it on our ride to my Mom's afterwards. What is the one word that would sum up the Market?

"Overwhelming". Yes, overwhelming and for numerous reasons. The Market is more of a social event (tracing back to the Markets of our ancestors) for most of those who visit it, this could have been because it was raining out, but there were a lot of people hanging around, chit chatting and not shopping the booths. This makes shopping difficult for those people who have a purpose or newcomers to the Market. The space is not meant for strollers, so if you have little ones and they can't walk it might be a good idea to find someone who can watch them. The crowd makes it hard to maneuver through it, I find it amazing that I'm saying this since we have attended multiple comic conventions with strollers larger than the mini-umbrella stroller we took here and didn't have any issue.

The Market is laid out the same way weekly, which makes it helpful, if  you know who you want to visit. I liked this. It also made it possible for me to find out who I had talked to and purchased from, since I had a very hard time talking to anyone and collecting informations. We got there around 12:30ish and some of the people I talked with didn't have information (such as business cards) left or in some cases there was no information about the farm or business at all. This was not a plus for first time visitors to the Market. I want to learn as much as I can about the people we are doing business with and this just didn't work for me. The people I did talk to were very friendly and helpful regarding their businesses and products.

A few other thing to know about the Market. Most of the vendors take cash only, however the Market supports a program called Fresh Bucks. The main booth a the start of the Market is equipped with a wireless credit card machine. For a small fee you can have the swipe your card for a designated amount, in return you will receive Fresh Buck Coins. The coins are in $1.00 and $5.00 increments, which can be used at the booths through out the Market. Using the $5.00 coins will result in receiving change from the farms and vendors in cash, which makes it easy to continue with your shopping through the market.  Several of the vendors were nice enough to explain the process to people asking about credit cards, but Mad Dog found that if you asked most of the vendors said they just took cash and didn't mention the service. We don't know if this means not all the vendors except the Fresh Buck Coins or some choose to discourage the use with their business.

The Market has a variety of products: seafood, meats, cheeses, yogurts, bread, pastries, jams, honey, sauces, veggies, fruits, plants, eggs, herbs and cider. I recommend walking the length of the Market before making any purchases. See that people have and prices things out. If you have little ones be prepared to buy them something sweet, and watch them. There are lots of vendors and stuff tends to be at kids level, so keep an eye on them letting them know to ask before touching. A lot of vendors experience the "Grab and No" - child grabs a product and the parent says "No" to buying it. Most of these products are food, and not necessarily wrapped individually, so a grabbing hand ruins the product and makes it unsellable.

What did we purchase? We bought sweet potatoes and shallots from Hopkins Farm, in North Scituate, RI. They were very friendly and had a variety of winter vegetables. They also excepted and talked up Fresh Bucks and offered bags if needed. I moved on to Schartner Farms of Exeter, RI where I purchased a bag of Rye Flour. Lex found his way to Cutie Pies where for a $1.00 he tasted a Chocolate Irish Cream pie. He wore it all over his face. I managed to taste cheese from Narragansett Creamery which were wonderful, but the sampling at their table makes it very difficult to speak with any of the many people they have on hand to assist customers. I ran into a woman who was carrying a container of Honeycomb, something that Mad Dog has been dying to try for a while now. She was nice enough to point me in the right direction where I found Aquidneck Honey. There I spoke with Jeffrey Mello, Bee Keeper. After speaking with him and listening to his food porn, he explained how I should enjoy my first sample of honeycomb in detail. I purchased a package of cut honeycomb. Which we enjoyed that evening exactly the way he told us to: get a good artisan bread (we picked up at the market from Olga's Cup & Saucer) sliced thin, spread the honeycomb on it and then sprinkle Asiago Cheese over it. Place in an oven at 200 degrees for 20 minutes. Enjoy it with a nice glass of Merlot Wine. He was right - it was amazing. Mad Dog and I had that treat after the kids went to bed.

Our last stop before leaving was at The Cupcakerie owned by Kristin Brennan. I picked up a mini variety pack from here for $7.50. We sampled some of them at my Mom's and then later at home. Our favorites were The Red Elvis (red velvet), the Lemon Drop, Cookies N' Cream and Wake Up and Smell the Cupcake (mocha with espresso cream ).

Overall the Market is completely worth it, you just need to be prepared:

1. Bring your own bags.
2. Bring Cash. 
3. Make a list, but be prepared to be flexible. 
4. Don't go hungry!
5. Shop around, and ask questions.
6. If you have little, little ones (infants) you're best bet is to use a Baby Bjorn or sling, otherwise leave them at home.