Now That's a Mouthful

Saturday kicked off our second season of the Great Falls Farmers' Market and as it always is, it was an exhausting, exhilarating day.

It's so heartening to see so many people interested and involved in food. The crowd was decent and the weather was perfect.

But, because it's been such a cool, rainy spring, we only have spinach, lettuce and a few perennial herbs (thyme and sage) in the PHF produce department at the moment. That meant we pushed our first CSA delivery to the second market (June 12.) By then, we hope to have a few more things to offer.

We weren't alone. Other producers at the market were light and bemoaning the chilly nights as much as we were.

But, the early season sluggishness is helped by a few greenhouse goodies. We brought a few tomato and herb starts and those always sell well.

And of course, Jacob's Farmer Bread -- whole-wheat sourdough artisan bread made from our wheat, cleaned on our farm and baked in our kitchen -- was a huge hit.

Our notes on last year's first market mentioned we were light on spinach. "Plant more spinach!" one of Jacob's little notebooks read.

This year, we heeded our own advice, apparently too enthusiastically.

We sold out of lettuce and bread fairly easily, but came home with a good amount of spinach and that means, it's spinach for the Cowgill clan for the week.

Here's Jacob getting an early start: