Saturday was a good day to be in Two Harbors. On one end of town, I attended North Shore Lumber’s grand opening and enjoyed music, food, and signed up for giveaways. As I headed towards the other end of town, I drove by the Two Harbors Under the Spreading Walnut Tree Art Festival which was booming on the grounds of the P.K. Anderson House. There were smiley people stepping into stores and stopping for ice cream and treats along the main drag. The sun was out, and it was a fun day to go out.
I hadn’t stopped by the Two Harbors Farmer’s Market for quite awhile and wanted to swing in to see what there was to see. And smell.
If someone could bottle the smell of a farmer’s market, I would buy a gallon. There’s a luring scent of food trucks doling out deliciousness to those who have built up an appetite while shopping. There’s a delectable sweetness in the air, no doubt from all the goodies you can find for your sweet tooth. This food bouquet combines the essence of homemade soaps that smell like the homemade candles available by the dozens. It’s a clean fragrance that is often enhanced with ingredients like lavender or sage. Fresh plants emit their earthy odor to the mix, and sawdust, which happens to be one of my favorite scents, caps off the aromatherapy experience.
Much of the sawdust smell was coming from an artist wielding a saw under his tent. He was somehow carving rough wood into a work of art. A variety of birds, each intricate and beautiful, were on display. There were also bears of every size, shape, and pose. I wonder what the bear hanging around our place would think if we put one that held a welcome sign by our door. I guess it’d be a good thing that bears can’t read.
I stopped at a table where Aprill Killstrom was selling a little bit of everything. She advised that she set up shop for her business, Handmade and Homegrown, every Saturday at the market. April has a focus on providing natural homemade products to her customers. She enjoys being part of events. “I do a lot of gardening,” she said. “I like natural products.”
Another business owner down the row of booths, Pat Berger, is also a big proponent of natural products. It is the 7th season Boreal Bounty Farm has sold wares at the Two Harbors Farmers Market, having started in 2018. She sells vegetable plants, jams, relishes, and other products.
“My mission really is to provide locally grown vegetables,” she said. “I grow chemical free and I’m trying to use the beautiful earth that we have to grow a local food that’s healthy and good quality and that people enjoy.”
Pat also has a lot of fun at the market. “I love meeting people. You have the local people who come every week and then the tourists that stop by. It’s always fun to hear where people are from.”
There are a lot of things to see (and smell) at the Two Harbors Farmer’s Market held every Saturday from the end of June through October 12th in the Burlington Station venue (320 7th Avenue) from 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM.
