Sustainability Saturday at Eisenhower Park

My mind was on Loretta’s oatmeal raisin cookies when Sustainability Saturday began at the Eisenhower Park Farmers Market.

Backyard Bees has always been about sustainability, so it seemed perfectly reasonable to have a slightly divided brain. Loretta often sells out of those cookies, and I wanted to surprise my husband, who—rather tragically—likes her version better than mine.

But, as it usually does, the market had other plans.

Kitchen Conversations

For Sustainability Saturday, I wanted to give visitors something they could actually use. In this week’s email, I shared my Rosemary Lemon Kitchen Countertop Cleaner recipe and filled a case of reusable eco-friendly spray bottles as a free gift for anyone who spent $20 or more.

Right from the start, I had a little swarm of readers stopping by, excited to try a new sustainable swap.

All through Plastic Free July we’ve been talking about simple changes that make a difference. Swapping a plastic lip balm tube for a beeswax lip balm in a paper tube. Replacing bottled body wash with a soap saver bag. Today, the conversation shifted to the kitchen.

Alongside the countertop cleaner, we also had our reusable Swedish dish cloths on the table, and they turned out to be the perfect pairing. A reusable cloth and a refillable spray bottle make cleaning the kitchen a little greener—and a lot less wasteful.

It was a different kind of conversation for the Backyard Bees table, and one I hope we’ll have again.

The Best Questions

By the end of the market, I found myself laughing over and over again. Here we were on a gorgeous summer Saturday, talking enthusiastically about…cleaning kitchens.

The free spray bottle wasn’t the kind of giveaway people grabbed just because it was free. The first question almost everyone asked was:

“What’s in it?”

I loved that question.

There are countless DIY cleaner recipes online, but mine keeps things wonderfully simple: detergent to clean, alcohol to disinfect, water, and a few drops of essential oil if you’d like a fresh scent.

Sometimes simple really is best.

My favorite comment of the day may have been:

“It’s so easy…but hey, if you want to make it for me…” 😊

Another shopper and I were talking about how nice it is to skip the cleaning products aisle altogether—the bright plastic bottles, artificial fragrances, and endless choices you don’t really need.

She nodded in agreement and then smiled.

“I skip that aisle,” she said. “I order online.”

Fair point.

What Sustainability Really Looks Like

Sustainability is often defined as meeting today’s needs without compromising the ability of future generations to meet theirs.

The customers at this market already understand that.

They’re the people who refuse a paper bag because they brought their own. They choose to shop locally. They think about what they actually need instead of simply buying more.

That’s one of the reasons Eisenhower Park remains one of my favorite markets.

Out of curiosity, I asked Jason from Two Brothers Farm what Sustainability Saturday meant to him.

He didn’t hesitate.

“That’s easy,” he said. “We grow locally and bring what we grow to a local market. We grow what people need. That’s sustainable.”

Simple. Honest. True.

And About Those Cookies…

During one tiny break in the action, I finally made my run across the field for Loretta’s cookies.

The first time I ever met Loretta, I asked what her specialty was. She thought for about half a second and answered,

“Sugar.”

I still laugh every time I think about it.

Today I asked her the same question I had asked Jason.

“What does your business do to be sustainable?”

Again, she barely had to think.

“The biggest thing I do is boxes,” she said. “I try hard to use less plastic.”

Simple.

I snapped a photo, grabbed my cookies, and hurried back to my tent before the next wave of shoppers arrived.

Why This Market Matters

The Eisenhower Park Farmers Market isn’t the biggest market on Long Island. It may never be.

But every year it grows a little stronger because it’s built on something that lasts.

Local growers. Local makers. Local customers who intentionally support the businesses they believe in.

That’s sustainability.

And that’s why I’ll keep saying it:

The Eisenhower Park Farmers Market is my favorite.

Now, I hope you enjoy cleaning your kitchen tomorrow.

I’ll bee at the beach. 🐝

Looking Ahead

Once again, I’m not sure what the theme of next week’s market will be (the market manager was away at her sister’s bridal shower). I DO know that next Saturday will be the first weekend of August, and that’s when the buzz starts for National Honey Bee Day.

Continue Exploring

A Real Farmers Market at Eisenhower Park what makes the farmers market at Eisenhower park so special to me; find links to all the market reports here

The Nose Always Knows last week’s market report