Omens, Afros, and The Bag Lady

By Chip Dahlke

There's never a dull moment around here at Ashlawn Farm. Actually, there are some times when watching paint dry would add some excitement, but that doesn’t come around too often. Opening day of the market wasn’t one of those times. Opening day is always a little hectic. It’s when you shake the rust off and realize that October is a long way off.

A lot of people got a kick out of our son Charlie being part of the musical entertainment and our daughter Addie making lemonade. It’s becoming a real family affair here. If I could just teach James to be a pickpocket we might make some real money.

First the good news. It didn’t rain. Rain on opening day is not a good omen. I don’t think that’s written down anywhere, but believe me, when it rains on opening day then it will rain on most market days. I’m not all that superstitious, but you need to pay attention to omens and what they mean. Take for example if a bird poops on your head. Your first reaction won’t be all that positive, but if you knew that this was a sign of lots of money coming your way, you might invite birds to crap on your head all day long. You might not have a lot of friends, but you’d have a lot of money to buy some. Rain on opening day would be a good sign if it was followed by a rainbow. That’s a sign of success. At any rate, it didn’t rain on opening day and I’m going to take that for a good sign. You take for what you want. It’s a free country.

Now for the bad news. We have some holes in the market. As I told you last week, I want to be transparent. Someone needs to set an example for our politicians. We have some great new vendors starting this week. We have some gelato coming and Gourmavian Farms will be selling poultry. I also liked what Taste of Sweet was doing last week with their gluten free deal. Do me a favor and stop by the new vendor tents to see what’s being offered. Our new vendors need to build some momentum and I know some of you are shy stopping by their tents for the first time. I was shy growing up but I learned to overcome this problem. You can learn to be more outward too. It’s free therapy here. It won’t cost you a dime and will improve your social skills. A whole new world will open up and before you know it you will be making new leaps into your unknown. Maybe you won’t be walking on the moon, but it’s been awhile since anyone did that anyway. I wonder why that is. It was such a big thing in the late 60’s and now no one seems to care.

So overall I think we’ve got a pretty good farmers market this year with a few kinks to still work out. We’ll get it taken care of. Don’t you worry about it.

Kim and Laura will be here with their natural beauty products. You remember them. They had these lotions and oils that you rub all over yourself. What you do after you’re all lotioned up is entirely up to you. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a free country.

Glenn Cheney is making his debut with books and eggs. That’s right, books he’s written and eggs I guess his chickens laid. This is just weird enough that I booked him as a guest vendor.

See you in the field

—Chip