Fulton Street Market — Attraction in Grand Rapids

August 20th, 2016 Morning

I arrived at Fulton Street Farmer's Market and felt a moment's disappointment. Rick Beerhorst and his Wonder Wagon had stayed at home apparently, and I had long wanted to hear the family of artists busking. A good alternative, Kaitlin Zittel on guitar and a friend on beat box greeted shoppers at the entrance, singing all original music. I was missing Saturday at the Muskegon Farmers Market. When it comes to Farmers Markets, love the one you're with, to borrow from a Simon and Garfunkel tune. Grand Rapids painters made a showing today. Robyn Bonhof, a prize winning painter, greeted me at the entrance. About two years ago, she embraced the Last Reformation movement and began leading lay ministers in outreach. Today, she was cultivating five lay ministers, each one willing to say a healing prayer with any who asked. Near the market, in the parking lot in fact, a tank of water pulled here by her truck awaits any who request baptism by immersion. Bomhof's faith has helped grow the disciples from a small group into a much larger group soon to move to the Grand Valley Artist Association space. Robyn took the time to share her two year journey into faith, which limits her painting time and yet, puts her work into a new phase.

A man arrived with a sign declaring a Bible verse. "All Sinners Will be Destroyed". "Robyn?", I asked. "We prayed together for his wife. She is fighting cancer. His message is divergent".

A old sign for Turtle Island Farms fascinated and soon I was talking to a woman who went back to the land to organic farm in 1976. My mother persuaded my father to purchase a homestead in 1971, where we farmed without chemicals. She had me to pull the weeds and pluck off aphids and pests. Which I threw on the waters of Euler Lake for bream to surface and gulp. The woman who started Turtle Island Farms worked with her husband, her son and his wife, to fill the orders of customers. She promised to look up the book of poems by Gary Snyder entitled, "Turtle Island", but it wasn't her inspiration.

I have driven several times between Grand Rapids and Kalamazoo this month, and around Gun Lake, I've noticed two or four Sandhill Cranes foraging in the fields, pecking at the worm-filled dirt. Check for Sandhill Cranes the next time you visit the Gun Lake Casino. The cafe is named for the Sandhill Cranes and many Native American paintings celebrate the birds.

Crane Dance Farms raises beef, lamb, poultry and swine free of genetically modified feed. The two families of Sandies who return each February, no later than March, tend to stay close to the pig sty, where pigs share their water and feed. It appears to Laura Crabtree-Hollenback that the same couple has returned to the farm every year, and mate in their marsh. The family has promised to protect the marsh and fields that draw back the cranes each year. She couldn't say if she knew the location where the Middleville tribe of families gathered at night. Thousands gather at an Audubon refuge with a marsh in Jackson County. At a park in Pulaski County, Indiana, bleachers have been erected for crane lovers who gather to watch thousands landing at dusk. There has to be a place like it near Middleville. I discovered the Crane resurgence in 2005 when I stumbled onto Sandhill Crane Winery near the Jackson preserve. Pleased to see that another business celebrates the Sandy in their branding.

The question hit me after we talked. Isn't Laura Crabtree-Hollenback a perfect painter of watercolors represented by Richard App Gallery? If so, I've seen her exceptional paintings on exhibit on Richard...

I love getting all of my veggies and fruit from the farmers market. They are grown in Michigan, by Michigan farmers. That means I don't have to worry about anything like pesticides or anything else that the big producers from any farm or country use and they are so much more affordable. Oh! they also accept Bridge Cards PLUS give you however many tokens you purchase, but doubled! Example: You purchase $20 in tokens that you use to make purchases at the farmers market and they give you $40 worth of tokens! Then, not only can I get all of the items I need, I can also bring home new, different, or cool-looking veggies for the family to try for the first time and I'm cooking new recipes that I wouldn't have found before! My whole household is healthier! They have other things made locally too, like jams and jellies, jewelry, and more on any given day (just make sure they are open that day! Even on their slow days, it is 110% worth it to shop there before you go to a grocery store. Plus, you just feel healthier having shopped at the local...

PARKING IS A PAIN IN THE BUTT. if you have a butt, it will be in pain after attempting to park here. I got a damn ticket too for parking wrong because I got sick of those old ladies stealing my spot. 😡🤬😡

If you have successfully parked your car and made it into the pavilion whatever market thingy, congratulations. You deserve to spend a ton of money for surviving that. I barely made it ...and I consider myself to be a rather tough strong muscular and handsome young man. 😏 Ifykyk 😏

Anyways, produce here is amazing, everyone I talked to were very friendly, helpful, and farm to table feel. I will say... Corn is a little wormy sometimes. I walked over, bought some corn from a good looking farmer woman, and almost died from a heart attack from seeing the face on the lady when I screamed when I opened the corn and saw a worm. Worms are scary, they intimidate me as a man. In conclusion: Guys, make the trip out and go here, I've been here hundreds of times, just plan some extra time for parking and wormless corn hunting if...