Looking Back at Our Farmers’ Market Season

Happy All Saints’ Day! Halloween marked the last Farmers’ Markets of 2020, and we are incredibly thankful to our friends and customers for making this a wonderful season in Gallatin, Hendersonville, and Murfreesboro alike. We're not done yet! In just two weeks, we’ll return to the Gallatin Farmers’ Market on November 14^th for Merry Market Day. We also have fresh seasonal scents, brand-new sample bags, and some major online sales in store for you in the weeks to come. But for now, our market days have concluded, and we’re looking back in gratitude at a year of transition.

So Many Firsts

2020 has been a difficult year for everyone, and small business owners are no exception. As our customers and fellow vendors know as well as we do, it would be an understatement to say that COVID-19 completely transformed the market season. Six feet separated us from customers we might have greeted with a handshake, masks muffled the voices we lifted in greetings, and the scent of sanitizer competed with the fragrances of summer in our noses.

And even before the pandemic emerged, our team was already in transition: Kay underwent (back-to-back!) knee surgeries, Rick married his beloved, we hired an old friend to become a new coworker, and we brought our soap to the Murfreesboro Saturday Market for the first time. In February, we weren't even sure if we'd be able to make our first trips to the Gallatin and Hendersonville Farmers' Markets as we watched and waited for Kay's recovery.

Six months later, despite having to overcome some obstacles (including the onset of an epidemic, one half of our team going away on honeymoon, and, of course, more than a couple of rainy weekends), we've not only returned to the Farmers' Markets of Gallatin and Hendersonville but even expanded in Murfreesboro and online, and we've even expanded our team to include our good friend (and vegan extraordinaire) Rick Laitinen-Patel. It’s been a whirlwind for our little family vegan soap business—but with your support, we’ve persevered.

So, too, have the Farmers' Markets! In this year, we've seen more people come out to visit with and support us and our fellow vendors than ever before. We also collaborated with old friends at the Gallatin Chamber of Commerce to unveil the new "Grit and Grace" soap, while also making new friends in Murfreesboro. And all of it was with the help of our customers as we were reminded that Farmers' Markets aren't just a marketplace, but also a true community. We're honored to be a part of it.

There's So Much More to Come

All this is simply to say that we can't wait for the weeks to come! We hope you had a fantastic and safe Halloween, and in the meantime, from our family to yours, we hope our vegan soaps will bring joy to you and yours in the winter to come.

In Gratitude,

Rick and Kay Brown
Scent of the Sun