Not only are the Ditty Bops the most wholesome lesbian music duo you'll likely find, but they're also inveterate travelers. Their Aug. 24 stop on their 2007 Summer Farm Tour at the Barrymore (originally scheduled for the Memorial Union Terrace before shadowy, drunken-college-student forces necessitated the move) is their third performance in Madison in the last 12 months. The Ditty Bops can't resist touring behind a gimmick or social cause, and their focus this lap around was on sustainable agriculture, with the lobby of the Barrymore converted into a miniature farmer's market offering locally grown tomatoes, garlic, flowers and homemade soap. They also hosted a raffle, with the winner taking home their own "Earth Box," — kind of like a planter, but designed to use 80 percent less water — with proceeds going to the Madison-based Family Farm Defenders. I was skeptical at first that anyone would want to wash down a pint of tomatoes with their pints of beer, but as everyone who attends the real farmer's market on the Capitol Square knows, vegetables and music are an organic combination and not at all out of place in a show starting at the "family-friendly" time of 7 p.m. Indeed, the floor in front of the stage was really more like a playground for the dozen or so kids dancing to the genial and well-received, if somewhat generic, delta blues and piano tunes of opening band Ice Cream Truck, who also pull double duty as the Ditty Bops' backup band, with John Lambdin on fiddle and lap guitar and Greg Rutledge on piano. The Ditty Bops themselves appeared in attire concordant with the tour's theme, with mandolin, ukulele and washboard player Amanda Barrett and guitarist Abby DeWald dressed in carrot and artichoke dresses, respectively. Their dress surmounted all rational expectations by being both surprisingly tasteful and kind of sexy. The Ditty Bops' trademark mixture of vaudevillian whimsy and Appalachian instrumentation naturally lends itself to dancing, and they started the night off swinging with "Waking Up In The City," "In The Meantime" and the title track from their 2006 album Moonlight Along The Freeway. The meat, or perhaps tofu, of the set eventually skewed toward their slower, gospel-influenced material. When Barrett brought out her mother, who lives in Madison, to sing a lullaby with her, the performance came to an early halt. Slow songs like "Growing Upside Down" from Moonlight, as well as new songs "Sugar and Spice" and the title track from their upcoming album Summer Rain also seemed to put a hint of restlessness into the younger parts of the audience, though for this reviewer the mood was perfect, as the songs were well-suited for these slow, sleepy and incredibly rainy final nights of summer. "Sugar and Spice," in particular, was a real highlight in the set; Barrett and DeWald's voices soared gentle and ethereal above an acoustic guitar accompaniment, crafting a tone of fragile beauty that would fit perfectly among Beach House, Field Mice, Cocteau Twins or any other equally obscure indie pop band on a mix CD. They seemed to sense that the crowd was itching to dance, however, as Barrett somewhat apologetically promised the crowd they'd play a few more fast ones and launched into "Sister Kate" from their first LP and the title track from their tour-exclusive Pack Rat EP. Fan favorites "Angel With An Attitude" and "Your Head's Too Big" (now with a hair dryer and reusable shopping bag pantomime instead of a balloon and pin — perhaps wasting all of those balloons began to gnaw on their social consciences?) also got big reactions from the audience. After a quick Django Reinhardt cover of an encore, ending with them marching off the stage like a Salvation Army band toward the merchandise table to sign Ditty Bops calendars and talk to their eager and loquacious fans, the mood in the theater was one of contentment and high spirits as the lights came on and the audience shuffled out.