Apex Farmers Market

The Apex Farmers Market had its second successful day on August 25, thanks in part to the handful of vendors in attendance and less than oppressive temperatures from Mother Nature.

Robbie Lee from L&G Farms in Meadow, NC was happy to be on hand, with beautiful red potatoes, okra, peaches and watermelon. His family's been farming for 65 years and are year-round sellers at the Raleigh Farmers Market. The drought has hit them hard this year, causing them to re-plant their collards twice; it's reduced the size of their corn crop and they've had to cut watermelons a month ahead of time, but they haven't experienced total devastation. Their okra and peaches were wonderful.

Delightful scents of homemade cinnamon swirl bread filled the heated morning air from The Bread Shop in Pittsboro. John and Paula Toogood's breads certainly live up to their name ... too good. "The most popular bread we've got here are the cinnamon swirl and the garlic asiago foccacia." The Toogood's use all natural ingredients, with no preservatives and whole grain—the trifecta seal of approval in my household. The Apex Farmers Market is just the second farmers market they have participated in this summer; the other market is in Holly Springs. "Our bread is available at Whole Foods Market in Cary, Durham and Chapel Hill, Weaver Street Market and Chatham Market Place in Pittsboro, and restaurants throughout the area." My son and I grabbed a loaf of sunflower bread, and my family fought over it all weekend.

Also on hand was artisan knitter Daisy Losken with her line of hand-knitted scarves, Designing Daisy. She grew up in South Africa, and has a marvelous voice. She was a bit shocked when my nine year old son asked if he could sit and knit with her; she handed over the scarf she was working on and he took the helm. (I was so proud.) "Every child in school [in South Africa] learns to knit—it's part of the curriculum," she said.

Richard Jenks, whose family has been in Apex forever, has been farming all his life. We got a watermelon, some squash and some heavenly tomatoes from him. A tall, distinguished fellow in my favorite overalls, Mr. Jenks said this was the first summer he hadn't farmed tobacco. "This is the first time in my life that I haven't grown tobacco, but it was just too expensive to buy all of the equipment for upgrading equipment. We also weren't getting enough per bale to cover the cost of production." So he and his wife used their stipend to work toward retirement. "I can't sit around all day and do nothing," he said. "The thing I'll miss about tobacco is the work. But I've got a nice garden, with squash, tomatoes, okra, peas, watermelon, blueberries, sweet corn—some of all of it."

Then there was Tim Brink of Cary with his picante salsa, differentiated from "salsa" because it's cooked. He and his wife hail from Oklahoma, where they used to frequent a Mexican restaurant. When it closed, they went into salsa withdrawal and started working on their own salsas at home. Today, Tim's a service manager with Landia and his wife's in the banking business with Credit Risk Management, but they continue to prepare their salsa picante. It sells out of The Rusty Bucket in downtown Apex, and through Pierce Produce at the Raleigh Farmers Market.

Last but not least was the watermelon seed spittin' contest. J. C. Knowles, ambassador for the downtown Apex merchants association and the Apex Farmers Market director, made his call for participants from the center of the lot with a great booming voice—and not to be outdone, came around to tap the shoulders of unsuspecting children and dads to fill the spittin' pool. There was a mom, a grandmother, and a daughter out there, too, but it was a dad and a son who won the adult and child categories with some pretty impressive spitting.

So next week, if you're out and about investigating fresh produce and local crafts, stop by the Apex Farmers Market on N. Salem Street, in the heart of downtown Apex.