
This Schifferstädter Marktfrau wheels her beets to the market in front of the Rathaus in Schifferstadt, a town next to the river Rhein in the upper Rhine valley.
This cheerful Maatfrau sits in Koblenz, a couple of hundred kilometres down the river, with her lettuce and potatoes on offer.
And finally, in the heartland of the asparagus growing region, this Spargelfrau sells her wares in Schwetzingen in view of the palace – fitting for this noble vegetable.
Linked to Friendly Friday: Markets.






Gosh, who knew asparagus makes you portly? The others seem very trim, so what are they eating?
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No – the asparagus woman is the last one. The portly one is Koblenz. But to be fair: asparagus from March until 24 June. It’s not forbidding to harvest asparagus after this date but this will lower the yield in the coming year dramatically, so the farmers stick to the date almost religiously.
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Cool statues!
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These are amazing sculptures ..so lifelike
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Yes, I thought so. I like the way the asparagus seller stands, it is so typical for women of this stature if they have to stand a long time.
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Yes that’s the one I like the best
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I cut her off … but it’s not far from us. I’ll take more photos when I am going there again.
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Most lifelike!
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These statues are interesting. I like the Koblenz lady, she’s happy 😃
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She is standing next to an old-fashioned policeman and on the floor is a plaque with a joke poem, I guess one that is wellknown in the area. 😀
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That is nice👍🏼
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I like that the statues capture the timeless quality of women selling produce at the market. Whats your experience today? Is it always women selling?
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It depends – but at least with fresh produce it’s more women in my experience.
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It’s a strange thing but in my experience with markets in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos .. most of South East Asia, it’s always been women exclusively, selling in market.
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I remember being in Swazliland, many years ago. There were people selling curio and clothes at the roadside, men and women. I wanted to buy a dress and we started looking and bargaining. The men were ready to bargain, the women not – they insisted on the set price. We noticed this more than once and later brought that up with friends from the area. They thought that because the women did the work, they knew the value, whereas the men thought better a little money than none…
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Very insightful! On the topic of bargaining … the expectations of bargaining depends on where you are. I know that in China, one is always expected to bargain. The starting price is a sliding scale depending on who you are. Tourists for instance the price begins at 3 to 4 times more, locals 2 times and regulars maybe less. It’s quite exhausting really. After a while I longed for the fixed sticker price on western shops.
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