MPLS Farmers Market & Cornercopia

            For my field trip I wanted to grab some fresh produce at a farmers market! I was lucky enough that it happened to be pretty warm and sunny out the day I went.  I made my way over to the Minneapolis Farmers Market on Sunday May 5^th.  I was going to go on Saturday but it was raining so I figured I would hope for better weather the next day.  I got to the market at about 11 and it wasn’t very busy, there were only a few people roaming up and down the aisles.  I think that once the weather gets nicer it will be packed with people.  I only really needed to get some greens since I had just gone grocery shopping a few days ago, and I was lucky that was all I planned on getting because there wasn’t as much produce out as I had expected.   As I was checking out some of the greens, I asked one of the people at the booth if they would have more fruit in a few weeks and he explained that in a few weeks they would have a lot more of everything.  This late winter has slowed down the farmer’s market season.         

            I also asked him how many people typically came to the market on the weekends, because I was surprised to see so few people there.  He told me it was one of the first weekends that the market was open outside and that once it warms up the place will be packed with people.  I was amazed at how many flowers were at the market.  This seemed to be the largest market at the moment.  I went in to a building that was entirely flowers and no other sellers.  I don’t typically buy flowers but they were really pretty, however they seemed a little too expensive for my taste.  Overall the market currently was made up mostly of flowers, greens, some bell peppers and some cucumbers.  I really only saw about 2 or 3 produce sellers and they all had the same types of produce.  It would be interesting to go back in a few weeks and compare the differences. 

           

I also want to post about the trip to Cornercopia we took during lecture.  I was blown away that there is so much growing that goes on right on campus! I have always seen the green houses but I had no clue about everything that goes on in them.  Even though it was cold and rainy it was really cool to see were  Cornercopia goes its produce and other crops.  I love that there is such cool opportunities for students at the University, such as this one.  I have never really known much about the crops that are grown on that land, and I always thought it was just plants grown for classes.  I think its great that they can make a profit from the land and do it in a green, organic way.  I didn't end up taking any pictures here, mainly because it was a little chilly for me and I forgot.