My parents used to always say this when we were growing up – I have no idea if other people’s folks said this or not. So this could be a common phrase or completely unheard of, but it has always made me chuckle. A humorous little reminder that a rainy day was not bad news for everyone. And Saturday at market was most certainly a rainy day.

Last month, on a very rainy morning, Dan and I said to each other “What if the weather is like this on a market day in April?” Our unanimous answer: We wouldn’t go. There was no way it would be worth it. But this past Friday the Brandermill Market announced that the market would go on, rain or shine or thunderstorm, hail, or high winds. (Well, maybe it would close down if the last three happened.) Friday was a gorgeous harvest day with beautiful clear skies – an idyllic spring day. Saturday we drove to market as the skies opened up.

Arriving at market, we learned that three-fourths of the vendors had cancelled. They had decided there was no way it could be worth it. Now, this is surely an easier decision if you sell canned goods, frozen meat, or nursery plants. But we’d cut and pulled our veggies out of the ground. They weren’t going back in. We were there, and hoping we didn’t have to bring all those salad and micro greens, radishes, turnips, onions, and eggs back home with us. My kids start revolting after three meals straight of salad and eggs.

Here’s the amazing part: you wonderful customers showed up! In the rain! In the wind! And you almost cleaned us out of everything. Thank you so much. It was so very heartening to have people running through the rain to our booth. Local vendors slipping out of their shops between bouts of rain to stock up on salad. Repeat customers saying “I’m so glad you’re hear! I was afraid you wouldn’t be.” It just made our day and made us smile despite the sogginess.

It was disappointing that most of the other vendors didn’t show up, as I was planning to get some pasta and goat milk soap. Customers were definitely bummed that others’ weren’t there, but I understand that others have a longer drive than us, or a lower tolerance for getting wet. So we happily sold vegetables, chatted with customers, bought a bottle of wine from Grayhaven Winery, and headed home an hour early as the winds really picked up.

So, thank you again for a surprisingly wonderful market day. Today we potted up a few hundred eggplants and peppers, transplanted 100 plants out into the field, planted a new row of asparagus, finished another leg of the new deer fence (it’s now 3/4 complete), as well as various other chores. This week our goal is to finish wrapping the fence around our whole growing area, with our house in the middle – just in time for our last frost date so all plants can go out safe from deer mandibles. See you next week.