Karen from the Quail Field Farm. Asbury Park market. Paul Goldfinger photo. ©
Paul Goldfinger, Editor:
I met Congressman Pallone at Karen’s display. We had a brief conversation:
Me: Hi Congressman (Ocean Grove used to be in his district, but now he has the 6th District—mostly Middlesex and some Monmouth.)
He: How are you?
Me: The last time I saw you you were listening intently to some fine music in the Great Auditorium. ( I have seen him there before; he likes the Summer Stars series. He sits in the same seat all the time. )
He: Smiling. He sees a bunch of melons in the grass and says, “Are they melons?”
Me: ..looks that way.
He: Rushes over to inspect the fruits
Someone asks Karen if she has any rosemary. She says no.
Me: I hand her two large Jersey tomatoes. A helper had just removed them from the truck and placed them right in front of me at a table full of the red beauties. I make sure that the red went up to the stem and that there were no soft or discolored spots. A soft squeeze revealing a bit of give suggests that it’s ready to eat. Don’t refrigerate unless you want to stop the ripening.
She: $ 2.46. Do you have 45 cents? I had two singles and two quarters—almost perfection.
Me: Would you like to be named “Rosemary?”
She: Yes, it’s pretty.
Me: Looks like rain.
She: ..maintaining her pretty smile moves over to the next customer and ignores my weather report.
Note that the Sunset Market stays open on Saturdays until 2 pm They open at 9, but they are there earlier.
LeANN RIMES “Blue”