And Then Iowa Turned Green!

No,  Not the Energy efficient, environmental kind.  And Not really the "Making Money" kind..  ( Although, having limited the shut down for the Pandemic, Iowa seems to have fared better than other states.)  I'm talking about Growing plant material and all the colors that come with them....  Mostly green.

 After an entire week of rain,  things are beginning to green up in Iowa. (Ok, It's not "beginning" as much as it is becoming overwhelming!)  The Neighbors mow their lawn every day now.  And the trees and grasses are growing at a break neck speed.   The sun have been away most of that time and the rain is a constant drizzle.   A really great kind of rain for Mushrooms.

I have found a few...  Growing in the Lawns and playgrounds of the parks.  Mostly on wood chips or landscaping.  I currently have three specimens waiting for identification on my desk.   I will require a spore print and perhaps  another Microscope moment to help ID them.   I'm pretty sure they are not edible,   But I'm also not sure if  they are toxic, medicinal, or psychotropic.  ( Probably not any of those either)  But discovering and Identifying the unknown in your own back yard is something I  enjoy.  Plus, it makes me look smart at all the parties I don't go to. 

Washington's Thursday Farmer's Market.

Yesterday,  Cheryl and I attended the Washington Farmer's Market from 5 pm -7:30 pm.  2.5 hours of possible sales at a foreign city and market place.  What could go wrong? 

There was the constant threat of rain, of course.   And the gusty wind that no weather channel predicted.   But we figured we could last 2.5 hours in the most inhospitable conditions if we could gather the right Data.   That Data being:  Will Cheryl's Baked Good sell? 

Cheryl brought baked goods.

Set up was far easier than with the soap.   Less worry about displays or product placement.  Cheryl had all the brownies and sweets lined up with their prices.   We only had to deal with the wind for the first 20 minutes or so, and eventually, it died down to a gentle breeze.   Also,  the rain held off until just after we packed up.   So yeah!

But perhaps the best thing about the market was that people actually showed up and bought our stuff!   We made sales as soon as the bell rang!  At one point,  people were forming a line and purchasing several items at a time.   It was very exciting.  

That "Rush" lasted about an hour.   Basically,  Dinner time!   There were burgers and hotdogs and popcorn and other sweets there as well.  I think folks brought the whole family and enjoyed the nice weather outside while eating their snacks in the park.  We were just the Dessert section of the meal.  ( By the way,  I had the one of the best "Grass Fed" organic beef burger I have ever had.  There were three farmers there selling their meat products.  I will have to sample the rest in the upcoming  markets. ) 

After the Rush! 

In the end,  I think we came home with only 7 items left.  The bread maker next to us completely sold out of her bread ( and she had a table covered) within the first hour as well.  Being the first market of the year, not many people knew what to expect.  We heard that last year's events were pretty bad  and sad, with the Pandemic ruining everything.   But I think Washington, Pella, and Muscatine have had enough of Lockdowns. Mask Mandates. and Business closures.  Hyvee has removed the "mask required" sign from their door.   And some business right out tell you that they will NOT be requiring it.  

Well,  Hopefully things will get back to some type of normal.  And Cheryl has seen a small glint of hope for a future enterprise.   We shall see what we can make of things  for future farmer's markets.  We did the tally and she ended up making a little more than the soap....  in less than one hour.... AFTER figuring out the cost of the product. I doubt soap would have had the same results at that time of day.

So.. We shall give baking a shot.   What the heck!   We have failed at so many other things, why not give this a go, too?    There will be many other hills to climb, I'm sure.  But baby steps before we can walk, right?   Cheryl says that we will probably skip Muscatine this weekend.   And she is working on the new offerings for next Thursday.  I can hardly wait!