The Giving Season

Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Giving Tuesday, Holiday Savings---absolutely everything is on sale except the necessities that I need. Lots of stylish shoes for stepping out on the town but try finding a pair of winter farm boots on sale or with free shipping; forget it.

My email, social media, and now text messages are clogged with everyone wanting me to shop or give. It’s like being pecked to death by thousands of ravenous baby birds and there’s no way to turn it off except to literally turn off the computer, the iPad, and the phone. My postal box is clogged tight with catalogs from companies from whom I purchased nothing from for years. The last time I picked up mail the recycle and trash cans in the lobby were so full of unwanted catalogs both overflowed to the point people were throwing unwanted mail on the floor.

Enough!

But the incessant hawking of goods that really gets under my skin are all the produce and meat companies who will deliver to your door advertising free food. They have catchy names and slick marketing campaigns that insinuate their products are sourced from [insert eye-catching buzzword like sustainable, organic, local, etc.] farms. Free ground beef or free eggs for as long as you subscribe. You know who is losing out on these deals, don’t you? The farmers.

Well, this week for Dishing the Dirt I’m getting in on act and asking everyone to do some of their holiday shopping at the farmers market. I’m not greedy. You don’t need to do all your shopping with us, just some of it.

My favorite suggestion is for hostess gifts for holiday gatherings. We were sequestering ourselves away from merriment last year, but I’ve already received a few invitations for small gatherings in the coming month. A bottle one of the many Maryland distilleries or hard cider, perhaps. No alcohol? No problem, there’s hot cocoa mix, olive oil, tea, coffee, flowers, sauces, and condiments from the folks that are here during the regular ol’ boring months of the year.

Thanks to the pandemic, many of the market vendors now ship. Got an aunt and uncle in Wisconsin who are hard to shop for? Pick out something for them and ask your favorite vendor if they ship. Chances are they’ll even take your order at the market instead of sending you off to their website, but that will work, too.

Remember those boxes of food I mentioned?  Yeah, we’ve got them. They’re called CSA shares or farm shares and can be picked up curb side for convenience, but on more than one occasion I’ve seen the actual farmers themselves carry the boxes out to the patron’s vehicle. Now that’s service!

Invited to a Feast of the Seven Fishes? We’ve got you more than covered including luxury items like caviar.

There are goodies for doggies, soaps and lotions, lovely yarns, and knitted items from the shepherdess herself, and I’m certain there will be a few pop-in vendors with original and hand-made art.  And cheese! My golly is there cheese. No one turns down a chunk of great cheese except your vegan cousin, but we’ve got vendors who specialize in vegan foods as well as gluten-free.

If you’re at a loss for what to get from the market for gifts, there’s always gift certificates. They’re available at the market’s information tent and are accepted by all vendors at any of the Central Farm Market locations.

Some of you may not know this, but Central Farm Markets is an LLC which means we will never ask you for money in order for any of our markets to operate. We are, however, a huge supporter of our local food banks with both food and financial donations. If your heart leads you to help in the effort to ease local food insecurity in the local communities in which each market operates there’s always a donation container at each market’s information tent.