These little kiddies went to market (Englewood Farmers Market)

ENGLEWOOD — The Englewood Farmers Market was alive and buzzing with the rhythm of swelling crowds moving through stands of colorful produce and fresh-baked goods.    Kim Douglas’ class of 18 second- graders from Englewood Elementary School added to the mix when they met up with market manager Lee Perron for a guided tour of the market. Over the past weeks, each of the five EES second-grade classes has had the chance to take a walking field trip to the market on Dearborn Street. Douglas’ class took its turn on Feb. 20 and other groups have followed in its footsteps.  “They get to see all the produce and farm products outside of a grocery story,” Perron said. “It was eye-opening. A lot of them had not seen that before.”  Leading the class through the market, Perron stopped at several vendors’ booths for a quick lesson and to sample an array of goodies. Eager to try the tiny green leaves, they first munched on broccoli sprouts from Simply Organics.    John Weil, from Weil Farms, held the children’s attention with an animated lesson about raw honey. He accepted a wide range of guesses before revealing that a honey bee makes about a quarter teaspoon of honey in its lifetime. Moving through the market with a new appreciation for hardworking honey bees, the group visited the Dufour Family Farms stand known as The Herb Guys.    Students clapped for Vaughn Dufour who previously donated flats of herbs and vegetables to plant in the schoolyard gardens. During the school year, students tend to the gardens weekly and have harvested and eaten food grown from Dufour’s seedlings. Every hand in the class went out as Jacob Rhoads from Rhoads Produce handed out apples.    The employees at Jonesez BBQ generously served free barbecue sandwiches to the entire class. After a short break in the shade, the second- grade class listened to a science lesson about erupting corn kernels as they patiently waited for a salty sweet sample of kettle corn. Students even got to bring home a sample treat for their dog or cat courtesy of Wood ‘n Purr gourmet pet treats.    With their tummies full, the class made its way out of the market and back down the sidewalk toward school. “My favorite part was the orange juice,” second-grader Nicole Thomas said reflecting on a variety of tasty morsels she sampled that morning.