St Jacobs Farmer's Market

A Mennonite girl selling vegetables

On Saturday morning, after our gym workout (more about that later) Lynne and I headed off to the St Jacobs Farmer's Market, both swearing that we needed no more food and were just going to look. I don't think I believed it either! Surprisingly, with it being so close to Christmas, it wasn't that crowded, but still pretty busy. The outside and downstairs sections are filled with food, and fresh produce and the upstairs section mainly crafts and things. Naturally we bought heaps ore food, just in case!!!








As  St Jacobs is in the middle if a large Mennonite population, many of the stallholders are Mennonite and sell much of their home grown produce, but the market and the town of St Jacobs are now very touristy, so the produce is quite varied.

Selling Maple Syrup

Mennonite Children

All the owners are at work

After the market we traveled a round trip through the Mennonite townships, beginning with St Jacobs where we visited the Mennonite museum. Here they show a very informative film which includes the roots of the faith, the journey taken to various parts of the world, the beliefs  and the way of life. As an Aussie, I must admit I knew very little about the group, but I guess it's not surprising, as Australia has only a very small group, but they have spread to many other countries and are growing in numbers, particularly in  Africa. Lynn taught for many years at the Floradale Public School and many of her students were from Mennonite families, so she proved a great guide.
 There are a number of different Mennonite groups within the area. Some live more as we do and even drive cars, others travel by buggy and many still have no electricity within the home, although they have it in the barns. The houses are often a higgedly piggedly conglomeration as new bits are added all the time for extended family. The traditions were originally Germanic, so the accent and speech of the people still reflects this.