Saturday, July 23, 2011

Carmel Farmers Market

Early this morning, we took advantage of something fun that the locals do in Indy—we went to the Carmel Farmers Market.  The Farmers Market offers only edible products and annuals and perennials.   With only a few exceptions, all products (which can range from pastries and jams to salsas and fruit and veggies) are grown and/or produced in Indiana.  The Market was established in 1999 by a small group of community volunteers, and the volunteers continue to run the Market each Saturday.  Over fifty vendors offer an assortment of homegrown products, and all of the products sold at the Market must be prepared in certified kitchens. During the 2010 Market season, over 50,000 people visited the Market! It was neat to experience one of the best and largest markets in Indiana.
Today, we arrived around 9:00 a.m. to beat the crowds and the heat of this crazy weather.  We walked around and scoped out the booths most interesting to us.  We were all very interested in the Peace Leaf Tea booth.  The ladies had the tea leaves all laid out in bowls on the table, so we were able to see all of the organic loose leaves and smell them if we wanted.  They also gave us some samples of both hot and cold tea. I didn’t buy any, but both Megan and Emily bought some tea for gifts.
Megan and I bought smoothies from a stand that was using fresh, locally-grown fruit. Emily and I bought mini-loaves of cherry bread and zucchini bread, respectively.  Emily bought some peaches to have back at the hotel as well, and I bought something that is similar to spanakopita in a pretzel form! Yum—I’m very excited for it!
We walked around the area into a town house complex that resembles more of a government building and the National Mall than a residential building. As we were walking past, we seemed to have just missed a power boating competition, but we were still able to see some of the little models and a few adults with a child-like passion playing with the boats in the water. It was pretty neat.
It was really nice to get out and see some of the state and what the locals do.  We plan on making the most out of our weekend off and exploring more.  Here are some pictures from our trip, including the first picture of the three of us together.
The Farmers Market wasn't too busy in the morning, but it definitely picked up.

Stands with fresh, beautiful flowers were everywhere!


And this is a parking garage. It was carpeted in the elevators and new and beautiful. Amazing.


Here is a local band playing for the Market's attendees.


Megan, Emily and me.


Who would enjoying living in this townhouse complex? Hm, no one I can think of.


Power boating competition.


Huge fountains!


Yay, so dressed up sporting the sneakers and PSU tee :-)

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