Small talk is a bit like roleplaying for me (well, it's part of "masking"...).
Imagine you are playing the role of a fantasy world medieval peasant.
"Good day to you, sir. I am a humble cabbage farmer. I can tell you a lot about cabbage."
Of course you wouldn't use any actual knowledge you might possess about cabbage, more like... faking knowledge on an obviously level.
"Did you know that cabbage grows better in wet soil?"
I mean, the Wikipedia definition of "Smalltalk" more or less states that it is "talking about nothing": No politics, no controversal topics, only stuff that is boring.
Like that time you found a snail near your cabbage.