Well, we finally had a serious change of weather – from a snowy opening of the market to temperatures reminiscent of late summer. It may have been just what my garden needed though, after losing multitudes of starts to the insatiable appetite of slugs. I probably say this every year, but I swear I have never seen so many itty, bitty ones mowing down my precious little vegetables trying to survive that cotyledon stage of life.

Although my garden suffered this spring and I was not able to present anything to the public, there were plenty of produce vendors offering an excellent harvest. And as summer approaches there will be much more to offer, as you well know!

This month at the market, look for our new Kingston Farmers Market postcards at the information booth. These cards were drawn by kids from Gordon and Wolfle elementary schools. Each year around May, we ask the art docents to talk to the classrooms about the farmers market and what they might like to draw to represent it. I happen to be the docent for my daughter’s kindergarten class at Gordon and I took the time to print pictures of markets with all their produce and flowers and so on.

I gave the kids my speech beginning with “how many of you have been to our farmers market down by the ferry?” I think about five kids total knew what the heck I was talking about. As I rambled on I asked them to think about what kinds of produce does and does not grow around here – particularly bananas. The kids drew some great pictures ranging from people dancing to music to a wonderful portrait of a chicken. To my delight no bananas appeared until my daughter, who has been to the market all her life, decided to draw a “fruit basket.” First she drew an apple, then some grapes, and finally, that completely foreign, yellow fruit from an entirely different continent – the banana.

While new postcards may be pretty darn exciting, I’m thinking strawberry season might slightly take the lead! Mounds of them have been showing up at the grocery stores for months but your mouth will never forgive you if you don’t try a market-fresh berry.

While you are shopping down at the port be sure to listen to this month’s music: June 7, classical guitarist Cesar Medel; June 21, Celtic music from Crooked Mile; and June 28, singing, banjo, and fiddle from Murphy & Marckx.

The Kingston Farmers Market is open 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays into October at the Port of Kingston’s Mike Wallace Memorial Park.