Minnesota Prairie Roots

PLUMP PEA PODS PILED. Juicy red and golden tomatoes gathered. Leafy lettuce layered. Bulky orange beets positioned beside purple ones. Bundles of radishes, beets and carrots bursting brilliant hues on a vendor’s table.

This is the bounty of summer in southern Minnesota.

A recent mid-morning Friday walk at Northfield’s Riverside Lions Park took me past Northfield Farmers Market vendors pulling vegetables, baked and canned goods, and more from their vehicles. As they set up shop, I lingered, admiring the fresh vegetables that appeared so visually pleasing and, I’m sure, are equally as tasty.

I was early. The market starts at 11:45 am, runs til 1 pm, Tuesdays and Fridays, and from 9-11 am Saturdays through October.

I left the local marketers to their display work, continuing into the park, which hugs the Cannon River. Water draws me. I paused along river’s edge to frame the distant 5^th Street West bridge with my Canon camera. Lush baskets of petunias splashed pink into the greenery and the brown hardscape of buildings. Below ducks swam in the placid river while a red car crossed the bridge.

If not for the constant thrum of traffic on busy Minnesota State Highway 3, this would prove a peaceful setting. Yet I still enjoy this park, appreciating the flower gardens, florals spilling from balconies on the apartment building across the street, the ping of balls and the hum of conversation from the nearby pickleball courts.

I still had one more place to stop—the spot along the riverbank where the ducks hang out. I was hoping to see the pure white ducks I’ve previously seen here. They were there along with the mallards, the iridescent green of the drakes’ heads shimmering in the late morning light.

With time to spare while waiting for Randy, I joined a man sitting at a picnic table. Either he would welcome conversation or he wouldn’t. He did. We talked about the market—he awaited its opening with cloth bags at the ready—and health and the care he gave his wife before she passed and family and the model railroad spread over eight sheets of plywood in his basement. And he told me about the new museum opening in Randolph across from the fire hall. The Randolph Area Historical Society is constructing a building that will cover the history of six Dakota and Goodhue County townships, house a family history research library and serve as a community gathering spot.

Randolph is a town rich in railroad history. I’d been there many years ago for Randolph Railroad Days, I shared with my new friend. Given his interest in trains, he has, too, and gave me the dates, October 21 and 22, for the 2023 event. I promptly added the celebration, which includes model railroad and railroad displays, a swap meet and more, to my smartphone calendar.

Soon my phone beeped with a text from Randy that he was nearly done with his appointment. I thanked the guy at the picnic table for the conversation, then aimed back toward the farmers market. I stopped to photograph the colorful produce and the goodies at McKenna’s Sweet Treats stand, my eyes focusing on the cookies, the mini fruit crisps, the sweet breads… And at the end of the table, quart and pint jars brimmed with spaghetti sauce and salsa in the loveliest shade of rich red, seasonings and onions floating in all that homemade goodness.

While I felt tempted to buy a treat made from raspberry preserves, I didn’t. But I left feeling appreciative for the gardeners and bakers and cooks who share their produce and goods at farmers’ markets like the one in Northfield. I felt appreciative, too, for conversation with a stranger and ducks along the river and the Cannon which winds through southern Minnesota on a lovely summer day.

© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling