Shoppers Visit Farmers Market Before Rain Returns, Cleanup from Monday’s storm continues
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (KEYT) – With more rain starting to cover the Central Coast, the short break between storms is over.
For most of the day, those who needed to dry off and clean up from Monday's rain got a chance. But now rain is back for round number two.
One of the weekly events that takes place rain or shine is the farmers market on State street downtown.
Farmers were able to set up before the rain moved in, but it picked up just after the afternoon market began.
This is a challenging week with the wet weather keeping many people inside.
The farmers say their fields are muddy but they did their best to bring the cleanest fruits and vegetables out for their displays for this week's market, although some of the product was not easy to harvest with the wet roads on their property.
Ana Pliego with Mike's Organic Farm says to get the vegetables ready after a muddy rain they take, "lots and lots of time. Put it in a big bucket and spray and spray and spray (with water) and you've got to take the leaves apart. It's not perfect. It's patience."
As for a slower turnout in the rain, "thankfully we have some regulars that are pretty consistent. They show up no matter what. This is where they get their groceries," she said.
A few booths away, Kyle Eckert with Riviera Mushrooms says with the weather shifting, he "just hopes the rain holds off and people are going to brave the rain."
He expects to see weekly customers even with some rain.
"People will definitely still come out. This is a slower market, people are still coming out. Vendors are still here."
In other areas, the clean up has been taking place all day where trees went down on Monday.
Most of the crews got the branches cut and picked up but there's still work to do.
One tree down by the East Beach volleyball courts in Santa Barbara snapped in several places and will need some careful trimming to make it safe.
In the Santa Barbara harbor, the entrance has been filling with sand and that's made it difficult for some vessels to come and go.
The harbor patrol has been checking the levels, especially at low tide and moving the buoys to give boat captains the lanes they need to avoid the sand closing in on the entrance.
We are still waiting for word on when the next dredging operation will take place.
The last time the harbor was dredged was early last year.
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