It feels like I haven’t been the the farmers market in forever. As of late the weekends are an ideal time for my immune system to get all out of whack. The Alemany Farmers market is my market of choice, but this isn’t about that. This is about my first market, the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.

The Ferry Plaza Farmers Market is lovely with its bayside setting, good food, and its beautifully designed building full of deliciousness, but its also by far the stodgiest of the farmers markets that I have been to.

For me this market just doesn’t have the sense of community that the other markets I’ve been to have. It is very different depending on what part of the market you’re in. The vendors in the front of the Ferry Building don’t really seem all to interested in the people who are there to purchase their wares. They are more concerned with talking to each other, and taking money, than answering questions about the things they are selling. The vendors in the back of the building however, are lovely people! They answer my questions, help me pick out exactly what I am looking for if I need assistance, and they are all around friendly, personable people. I don’t know if they have a lottery for spots, but you would think the people in the front would be chipper seeing they have a better chance of attracting lots of customers.

It’s not all bad though. I do recommend this market if you want to purchase a lot of homemade treats, like honey straws, jams and dried fruits. I also like that each vendor displays a sign saying where in California they’re from and a bit of the history of them and their farm. It’s also beautiful on a sunny day, and when you’re done purchasing healthy things you can go inside and get yummy gelato from Ciao Bella or a beautiful cupcake from Miette. Delish!

A couple weeks ago I started in on my goal to learn about Communism and Socialism. To kick things off I began reading Marxism and Communism: Essential Readings, a book I picked up from an awesome place in Berkeley called Urban Ore for 25 cents!

If you live in the bay area and haven’t been to Urban Ore, it’s a place you really should visit. I think it’s the first place the dreamboat took me when we moved here (he knew about it from living in Berkeley the previous summer for an internship). He was so excited about it. It is a creative/artist/pack rat/tech geek/eco-conscious/thifters dream. This salvage yard is full of all kinds of things; clothing, records, dishes, old Macs, techie geek parts, abandoned art, books, all the National Geographics you could possibly want, old tools, beakers, dentist moulds of teeth, bath tubs, doors galore, toilets, big vintage things like ovens and pianos, lovely old suitcases, sports equipment, door knobs, awesome file cabinets, picture frames and bike racks just to name a few.

You can’t just walk into Urban Ore and go through the motions either. You have to get into full on pirate mode and plunder others and hunt for your treasures. Find the booty! Some things in our abode that we have found at Urban Ore include…

Crazy hipsteresque Pegasus Art (there was a Cancer/Crab piece done in the same style, did you pick it up? Let me know if you did!)

Various picture frames

A child’s introduction to French record

and

Some of the speakers that make up our Entertainment area.

Thrifting/2nd hand hunting is a truly fun, cheap, and great way to furnish ones abode.