The honor system is alive and well in Door County.
A sign advertises produce for sale, so we pull in the driveway. There are no people manning the stand. We pick our potatoes, our corn, our squash or our peaches, and then we pay by putting money in the wooden box on the table. We can open it up to put in our $5 dollars. Or, because the peaches cost $3.50, we can take out our change. Once, late in the day, we had only a twenty. But it was no matter; there were many bills in the money box to make change. In fact, nearly two hundred dollars sat passively inside.
In addition, of course, the eating is good.
Newly picked from the ground, from soil that is healthy and air that is clean, the vegetables on our plates make us exclaim over every bite. Here, I even like beets and kale. I’m experimenting with new kinds of squash.
Some people make their living photographing food, and at the farmer’s market yesterday, I wanted to be one of those people, as the beauty of those vegetables was delight to me.
Zebra beans and purple beans? 
Yellow cauliflower?
Striped zucchini?
Of course, all these vegetables taste wonderful. The only downside is the shortness of the growing season. We can only eat this fresh food for a few more weeks. I’ve canned pickles already; dills and bread&butters.
There is a sense, in this first week of September, that summer is nearly over. I’m not quite ready for that, especially as I know the winter will be long. But until the vegetables stop appearing in the road stands, I’ll happily and honestly put the money I owe into those unlocked money jars and boxes, and I’ll feast gratefully on this season’s bounty.
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