Farmers' Market continues to thrive in Brownsville

BROWNSVILLE - John Lorenz asked about the plump squash sitting on the table surrounded by grapefruit, oranges and radishes.

"I just cut it up and use it for whatever. I cut it up and use it in my beans," said Diana Padilla, one of several vendors at the Brownsville Farmers' Market in Linear Park on Saturday.

She and her husband Saul, owners of Yahweh's All Natural Farm and Garden, had journeyed from Harlingen to participate in the event organized by the Brownsville Farmers' Market, a freestanding corporation.

The event, held each Saturday since Nov. 1, was organized to encourage people to eat fresh produce and practice healthier lifestyles, said Dr. Rose Gowen, board member.

"Every Saturday, it seems people bring more produce (and) buy more produce," she said.

Diana Padilla, a mass of brown hair held in check behind an enthusiastic face accented by rolls of laughter, said a colorful hodgepodge of cilantro, carrots, chilis, and baby Romaine lettuce had covered the table earlier in the day and that supply had dwindled considerably by mid-morning.

People seemed to enjoy the opportunity for a morning stroll past booths selling honey, whole grain breads, watermelons, jewelry, homemade soaps and jams.

The University of Texas-Brownsville checked people's blood pressure, and Valley Baptist Health System checked their glucose.

A young boy trailed behind an older man eating kettle corn sweetened with cane sugar. A woman commanded, "No, you're not going to go there," to a silver schnauzer who strained against its leash as its bearded snout reached toward a bed of pink flowers.

Although the gray skies and cooler temperatures seemed to lessen the turnout earlier in the morning, more people appeared when it became obvious the sun would cooperate and the rains would avoid the area.

"It was all rainy up on the island," said Chuck Hofmeister, 41, who lives with his wife Diane on South Padre Island. "The weather is better here."

"I told you it's going to be nice inland," added Diane Hofmeister, 38.

The young couple, which had just purchased some grapefruit, moved to the area about five years ago from Ohio, where they were used to having farmers' markets every weekend, but only during the summer.

"I'm so excited to see a farmer's market," Diane Hofmeister said. "I like buying locally grown organic fruits and vegetables."

Meanwhile, Lorenz, 42, had decided on the squash, and Diana Padilla bagged the two jungle green vegetables in a bag for the Rancho Viejo resident.

"It's kind of neat to have that down here, something different," said Lorenz, dressed in jeans and an aqua blue Nautica Surfing Safari T-shirt. He'd already bought some shrimp and jams, and his wife Angelica looked over grapefruit at the next booth.

"I bought three of them," said Angelica Lorenz, 40, the dim morning light washing over her face's caramel complexion. She was enjoying the farmer's market.

"I love it," she said. "I think it's better than going to the mall."

Charles and Rhonda Loop had just sold the grapefruit to Angelica Lorenz.

"I've got a lot of roads named after me in every big city," joked Charles Loop, 73, his hand stuck in his khaki pants. Normally, he and his wife would have some avocados on the table for customers, but not this time.

"Hurricane Dolly blew all the avocados off the trees," he said. "Not that many people grow avocados around here. I can live on guacamole."

Not as many people purchased soaps and jams from Rosemary Triano as they had in previous farmers' markets.

"The first day I sold out," said Triano, a recently retired science teacher. "It was tremendous."

She speculated the weather had slowed the arrival of customers, but a steady stream of people did pass by her booth, ask questions and make purchases. She sold jams made of cranberries and chili piquins, or Habanero and orange peppers. She also had hand-milled soap fashioned from a recipe passed down from her Spanish grandmother.

"I make it with extra virgin olive oil," she said. "It takes a year to cure, to harden."

She wasn't selling that particular product on Saturday. Instead, she had grated the product and mixed it with lemon grass, basil, rosemary and other ingredients to make a variety of soaps. Her palette of soaps included Fisherman's Soap, made of rosemary, lemongrass and chamomile; mango soap (lemongrass and olive oil), and even a "Barney Rubble" soap for teenagers with acne: Aztec clay, aloe vera, and chamomile.

"I started doing this 10 years ago as a hobby, giving jams and soaps as gifts," Triano said. "It got so popular, people said, ‘Rose, we will buy it from you.' I just started making it into a small business."