Ten minutes to write. Less time to read.

Every Saturday during the summer St. Joseph has a farmers’ market on the bluff. When I think of a farmer’s market, fruits and vegetables – maybe eggs too – come to mind. But this market has a variety of other offerings.

There’s the couple that sharpens knives and charges by the inch of the blade. My friend A got three knives done for $22, cash. There’s the boba tea stand and the hard cider stand, the frozen meat purveyor and the fresh flower merchant. And the hot dog stand. Yes, there are fruits and vegetables; but they don’t seem to be center stage. Perhaps it’s because it’s relatively early in the growing season. As July appears and then August, there could be more produce vendors.

I support a couple local farm stands that are open seven days a week, so I usually don’t purchase items at the farmer’s market. It seems to be more for the tourists who storm our communities in summer and are enamored of Michigan produce. Trust me, it truly is something to treasure.

But at the local farm stands, there are no knife sharpeners or hard cider options. It’s all about the produce. And about supporting local farmers.