Farmers Markets and Canning Cherries
One of my favourite things about summer is the return of the
Farmers Market. As much as I love the market in Halifax, it tends to be more
artsy than I’d like. By this, I mean that people are there to sell crafts, and
more to hone their craft than to make a living. The market in Billings is so
different. There are people who legitimately make it their full time job to do
these markets across the state. They also include people like the Hutterites
and the conservative Mennonites who grow crops at home for themselves and then
sell the extra.
We spent the morning at the market, which was great. It’s
vibrant and full of life. It’s not hippie central, and there aren’t any crafts. Food only. Not that I disparage
artisans for making things, but there is so much crap at those things. You have to wade through booth after booth of
ugly crap before you find something nice. I like it when farmer’s reclaim their market.
We picked up a flat of berries (blackberries, raspberries,
and blueberries) as well as some kohlrabi, which is really hard to find outside of Montana, in my experience. It’s a
root vegetable, similar to if a turnip and a cabbage had a baby.
I also had a great crepe. Look at all that nutella! It was
delicious. I’m a big fan of nutella.
We got home and Grandpa (who didn’t go to the market) had
20-some pounds of Flathead Lake Cherries. What do you even do with that many
cherries? Can them. Put them in cans. This became a two man operation quickly, and Dad was the
pitter (pulling the pits out of each cherry) and Grandpa did the canning. Then Mom took over on the pitting. While
delicious, this was a huge mess. I was cleaning cherry juice off the wall for an hour.
These are the kinds of things I’m going to miss about
Montana. People don’t can in the city, but I think I'll start.