Get it while it lasts at Whole Life Market

Shop tomorrow. Shop a week from Thursday, too.

And then, poof! This farmers market will vanish in a season more fleeting than a fig’s.

Despite its short nature, the Whole Life Market is long on goods. Last Thursday, a dozen vendors set up shop in the parking lot of the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd in Norfolk.

The market, organized by the Cancer Care Foundation of Tidewater, is timed to serve the after-work crowd. An acoustic guitar player’s strumming tempered the noise from the Hampton Boulevard rush-hour traffic. Meanwhile, men in suits and mommies with strollers perused the asphalt aisle.

Twisted Sisters’ pink-polka-­dotted cupcake truck and Country Boy’s Barbecue’s mobile cooker anchored one end of the asphalt. A tropical shaved-ice truck anchored the other.

In between, farmers sold a smorgasbord of goods – fresh-cut zinnias and celosia, buffalo hot dogs, fresh-baked bread and bicolored corn.

Come and get it before it’s gone.

The scene A brisk little market with a big spread of goods right off Hampton Boulevard. Perfect for stocking up for the weekend.

The location Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 7400 Hampton Blvd., Norfolk. It’s 4.5 miles from downtown Norfolk. For information, call (757) 737-2538.

The hours 4 to 8 p.m. Thursday and Aug. 11

Variety Don’t be fooled by this market’s fleeting nature. Midsummer’s bounty was fully represented by local farmers. The market also sported one of the best selections for the carnivorous crowd that we’ve seen all summer, including heritage chickens, clams, shrimp, pastured beef and bison. One vendor sold nothing but delicate orchids, and another a field of cut flowers for make-your-own bouquets.

Most unexpected offerings The range of cut flowers from Zinnia Girls in Ivor. Sunflowers, zinnias, celosia, lilies, gomphrena and heady balls of white hydrangea spilled from their tent. “It’s kind of like picking flowers without coming to the farm,” said co-owner Meegan Heidt.

Meats, shellfish, etc. Local free-range, pastured chicken, turkey and eggs; pastured Cornish hens; grass-and-hay-fed beef, including osso buco, brisket and London broil; bison burgers and steaks; clams, oysters, shrimp and scallops

Produce Summer’s full bounty, including softball-sized tomatoes, peppers, cantaloupes, watermelons, peaches, blueberries, blackberries, butterbeans, squashes and nectarines. Cullipher Farm came from Pungo in Virginia Beach with baskets of its new bicolored corn, cut from the stalks just hours earlier, 50 cents an ear or $5 a dozen.

Prepared foods Barbecue, cupcakes and an array of breads from Mary Jean’s bakery, including jalapeno hamburger rolls (a bag of eight for $10) and yeasty strawberry bread ($8 a loaf)

Parking In the church lot, which has several designated handicapped spaces

Don’t forget Bring cash, as well as a cooler and reusable bags for your purchases.

Lorraine Eaton, (757) 446-2697, lorraine.eaton@pilotonline.com

Check out Lorraine’s blog at www.hamptonroads.com/blogs/lorraine-eaton.