We had the best winter farmer's market that we ever had about 2 weeks ago! It was incredibly busy, and people were buying like crazy! There was a lot of excitement in the air and people were in very good-natured moods! I was enjoying selling our local goods, and I was also enjoying seeing individuals that I had not seen in awhile. A CSA customer from this fall stopped by to see how we were doing, and he gifted some presents to us. He gave us a fresh-baked cheesecake (yum), and gave us a book called "The Dirty Life," which I am super excited to read! He gave us the items as a token of appreciation for all the delicious veggies we have given him. It was really warming to have someone bestow that generosity upon us, and it was nice to be appreciated.
As I said, we were moving through our food like crazy! I sold 3 jars of pickles in 45 minutes - I have never sold canned goods like that - but it made me feel like all the hard work this summer had paid off! Next market I am going to bring even more - maybe I'll have some returning customers.
Well, at this market, it seems that everyone walks around with $20 bills. They don't have singles, fives or tens, they are just carrying the big bucks! Luke and I were quickly running out of change - we didn't have any singles left, and a handful of 5's and 10's. Normally you just have to roll with it and someone will give you the change you need, but there can be some dicey moments. My parents were on their way out, and I asked if they had any singles. They only had 2 - so I gave them 2 gold coins in exchange for the singles. My dad gave me a confused look, and said - "Well these are worth a dollar, why can you give these to people?" I explained that for some odd reason - even though it is still money and has the same value - people really hate getting those coins.
Which leads me to the monopoly money component of this! A while later, a woman bought a pound of carrots, which costs $2.50. She handed me $5, and to my dismay - we only had 1 single left! I gave her 1 single, 1 gold dollar coin, and then 50 cents. When I handed her the money - she looked and me oddly and said "What in the world is this?" I explain that it was a gold dollar and we had run out of singles, and because she was packing up her wallet (so I thought), I moved on to help another customer. Glancing down at this woman, I noticed she was shaking and yelling at her husband. I overheard the words "You need to help me, I am being forced to take something I don't want."
I went over by the lady and said "Is there something wrong mam?" I guess that opened the door for the blow-out - she went off on me about how I am forcing her to take something that she doesn't want, and that she didn't even know what it was. She told me that I needed to figure out a way to make the "proper change" and if I didn't, she was just going to return her carrots and get her $5 back. I tried to politely explain again that it was still worth a dollar and that I didn't have any other singles. Her husband, in a rough voice, spoke "Just give her 4 quarters - at least it is money we understand." I obliged, trading 4 quarters for the gold dollar, and they marched angrily away.
My goodness, I couldn't help but chuckle about the idea that I was passing out fake money - its not like it had the monopoly man on it and was worth $5,000. I guess some people don't know what a gold coin is - what are they going to do when the government switches over to gold coins and no longer prints dollar bills?
Regardless, the market ended fantastically, Luke and I were so busy we could barely keep up! Our greens sold out in no time - I truly believe that in the grayness of winter, the greens and purples of the lettuce greens really excites people. I know it makes me feel better when I look at it! If this market is a glimpse of what 2012 will be, I can say we will have an exciting year ahead of us!
