Do you have a local Farmer's Market and do you use it?

If there is one nearby... I don't know about it

Ask at your local town hall - they license the markets, so will know what there is near you!

Resin

Watch your newspapers & listen to your radio. Farmers Markets advertise!
Many are advertised on Craig's list.

I am a vendor & have been for 24 years. The hardest thing around is getting people to come to the market.

There are many wonderful things there. Ours offers every kind of vegetable you can imagine, farm fresh eggs, locally grown beef, pork, & poultry, fresh flower bouquets & many hand crafted items.
It is like a bazaar!

Our city is 45,000 people. On a good Saturday we might get 3000 at the market. Sad part is they are not all from the city, half will come from surrounding areas.
Apparently most people do not have the craving for local, fresh produce like the members on this site.

The contaminated Jalapenos & tomatoes of the last few years have helped. Do we hope for another one this year to get people's attention that they can buy this local, natural products.
Yes, even if it is not certified organic, local growers DO NOT use harsh chemicals. Most grow without chemicals or use very little!

Look for your local market & keep your money in the community!

Have a Great Day!
Bernie

The two nearest FMs are 50 and 65 miles from home and on Saturday mornings when I am at work. So I am envious and try to find local growers that have extra of what I can use but would love to support the markets.

Thanks to all the vendors!

I sell at the local farmer's market. It's not the best organized one I've participated in, but at least we have one. I do best in the winter when we have lots of winter Texans. The market is closed in July and August.

We don't have a FM but I wish that we did. I have been to them and have bought some wonderful things at them. We do have little local veggie and fruit markets but they only have limited veggies and fruit. I like to go to ones where you can buy anything imiginal.

Love our market just wish they would have more asian veggies. I have worked there the past two years for a local organic farmer. www.summercreekfarm.com Lots of fun! Not this year though, letting the college kids take their turn.

-Kim

I am a vendor at a market several miles away from where I live because there is not one here. I sell plants.

Dorothy

Other than some people who sit on the side of major farm road intersections, we don't have a good farmer's market. We grow most of what we like here on the farm.

I will never forget the ones they have in Houston way out on Airline Road on the north side of town. When I lived there, we would go buy everything by the bushel and put it in the deep freeze to last the whole winter. Eventually we got a black eyed pea sheller and a corn stripper for cream corn in the deep freeze.

Some days I think I will actually drive to Houston to fill the car with what we don't have in our own garden.

I voted that we had one but I've never been. There wasn't an option for "we have one but it sucks". We do have one but it is not good compared to some I've been to. There are only a few actual "farmers" but mostly it's home made crafts, lotions, gifts, baked goods...fine and dandy but not what I'm looking for in a market.

I love our local farmers' market. The food is grown mostly in a 20 mile radius, picked Friday night and loaded into the truck for the trip to the Saturday morning market. It's a place to meet, greet, and purchase things to eat, and pretty plants and veggies to grow at home. It has doubled in size since starting in 2005. While still relatively small in comparison to adjoining counties, the market has a nice variety and a high level of quality. Prices are comparable to the upscale supermarkets, so it's not cheap by any means. But the veggies taste as they should, eggs are fresh with deep yellow or orange yolks, value added products like cookies, cakes, jellies are fresh and original, beef, lamb, chicken, is grass pastured and no hormones are added. Some vendors are certified organic, and I believe all farmers who are not use those methods, but don't certify due to the expense or paperwork.

If there is a concern, it is one of exclusivity, based on prices and the culture of the market, which is pitched at an upscale and food-knowledgeable consumer. This is not a condemnation of the vendors who are, after all, trying to support their families and/or make enough to support their passion to farm.

One of the posts above talked about low attendance of local consumers being the bane of the farmers' market. Our local market always appears active, but unless the locals come back on a regular basis, I don't think our market could survive.

Yes, we have a FM and I have only been to it 2 times. It is located right next to the Huntington Beach pier in downtown HB. It is always a hard place to park and very costly for parking. I wish it was easier to attend it, I would go every Friday for it.

Yes, we have 2 that I know of (in Calgary), and I've been to them a couple of times, each.
Now that I have a car, I should go more often!! lol

We have one but I seldom go. In prior years its probably been over-organized or controled. They are very, very picky about who they allow in it.

It is a little closer to me than it was so may check it out again.

Our local market is in the center of the city. Hard to get to. I never go there.

Ours is on a major thoroughfare and I usually see a couple of pickup trucks there with stuff that usually doesn't interest me. If it were bigger with more variety, I might consider visiting it more often. I've heard that other towns around the area have much better stuff.

Interesting link I just found. Looks like you can locate FMs all over the US with it. http://www.localharvest.org/album.jsp?st=46&ty=1

no time to ever go there!

We have a fairly large one but some of the vendors are just sellers, not growers, playing middleman with stuff you can get at garden centers. There are some good organic growers and I am a repeat customer for them, prices are higher in general than the supermarket, but it is all fresh and in prime condition, not having been packed in a truck and hauled for hundreds of miles.

I buy what we don't have space to grow. We freeze a lot of our own produce. I can't get enough fresh stuff at this time of year, I'm so hungry for new garden peas and lettuce and such.

no farmers market here, if you want fruits or veggies you gotta go to wal-mart, LOL!

We've got one but only a small group of 3 0r 4. I do buy where ever i find something and we do have a couple of farms where i can buy veggies.
Thank you Shelia for the link. I found one abt 40 miles from here. Can't wait to check it out.
Vickie

Our Anderson Township Farmers' Market just started up last year. This summer I think it will gain momentum and I hope the sellers/growers stock will be more varied and interesting. We go quite often during the summer.

I miss the Farmers' Market in Madison Wisconsin around the State Capitol Building. We used to go to that all the time when we were in school there (UW 1977-79). Very interesting offerings and good people watching, too! I hope it's still going. It was really the best farmers' market I've been to.

Also liked the Pasadena CA Farmers' Market and shopped there on most Saturday mornings when we live there. Lots of good citrus and figs galore. Also devine lobster ravioli. We were spoiled! And the 'South Pasadena Farmers Market' on Thursday evenings was fun too. We used to go there for a different 'fast food' dinner~~delish tacos or sausages. Yum! And the healthy veggies, too, of course!

We have 10 farmers markets in Calgary proper (big city) which range from 'big business' to group gatherings working out of trucks in parking lots. There are also 4 small markets in the outlying communities. I love the one that is close to my house. In addition to fresh goods from the local growers, they rent space to the BC folks who bring in fruit that we can't grow here.

tabsco, they are alive and well in Madison. At least one is open in winter. Fabulous goodies, you can graze your way through and not have to find dinner elsewhere. Dane county one is the best I think, at least the biggest. http://www.cityofmadison.com/residents/farmersMarket.cfm

We go to the local farms here on Nantucket as they are very close to us and are owned by wonderful people or we grow our own, or at least try. There is a farmers market during the summer, but on Sat. I try to avoid going anywhere except to my garden! But when we are traveling, we always try to find them. Went to a nice one recently in New Orleans. Bought local honey and some nice bottled sauces. I would have loved to have dragged back some fine looking veggie starts, but no room in our suitcases. In Vermont we have a great one in West Brattleboro, but we also have a great local farm stand that is even closer to us, plus they stay open year round which is wonderful for us and they have a bakery too. I go to one in NYC sometimes just for fun and have found some very interesting veggies. Patti

Sat morning 9:00 -12:00 noon I am sleeping or in my garden. I wish they went later in the day.

I can walk to our farmers market from my house but I am always in class Saturday morning so seldom get to go! D.H. goes more often. It has artsy, craftsy stuff, cheeses and local grass-fed beef, lamb and free range chickens as well as produce and baked goods. The food is excellent and priced pretty much the same as an up-scale grocery store. It is very popular and parking is difficult.

We have Wednesday afternoon and Saturday morning markets. I can ride my bike to both and it gives me an excuse to leave work a little early on Wednesday afternoons. Saturday morning market has a lot more vendors and people selling other things like baked goods and hot food. Several vendors drive over from California with produce that is difficult or impossible to grow on this side of the mountains.

My mom volunteers at the big Saturday market at Portland State University. She usually works at the demonstration booth where they show several cooking methods for a particular veggie each week and hand out samples and recipe cards. People get to try things that they might not buy otherwise. Most of the food for the demo booth is donated by the farmers and there is usually a sign that says who donated what.

"We have a Farmer's Market but I've never been." Why?

Because it's just starting (for the first time, ever) this June!

We have an organized farmers market 25 miles away and several vendors set up shop along side the road by Moville 10 miles away.
I usually raise the same things and that provides us with more than we need. So we share. and eat well here at home.

There is local farmers' market on Thursdays at Kaiser Hospital in Woodland Hills. I only learned about it recently so I have only gone once but I'll be back. It isn't big but they have a good variety. Everything at all of the stands is different. DH says that you usually have to pay to park in the Kaiser lot, but it's free on Farmers' Market day. I have bought stuff at Pierce College though I've heard that they don't grow it there. On weekends, there are sometimes people selling fruit along Kanan Road and Las Virgenes Road and if we're out that way, we'll stop. The strawberries from any of these places are infinitely better than what you get in the grocery store.

We've had several attempts at a Farmer's Market in our town, but they seem to fizzle out. The local feed-n-seed offers free set up for anyone wishing to sell plants or produce, and most Saturdays, you'll find someone with a pickup truck load of something, but it is informal and not organized.

The neighboring town of Murray has a small, but nice one, and you can get things like local honey or fresh fish just about every weekend in the summer. It is only about 12 miles, so it isn't out of the way...I'm 5 miles out of my town of Benton, so it isn't much of a stretch to head to Murray.

We have at least 6 FMs withing easy driving range. One of them is literally within walking distance. We also have a few local farms with farmstands. Since there is plenty of competition, prices are competitive. The quality and choice is beyond compare.

We know which vendors go to which markets, and we tend to frequent all of them, depending on what produce we need. For example, one that is about 30 minutes away is in the middle of black soil country. Why would we buy onions anywhere else?

Between my veggie garden and the fresh produce available nearby, we buy no veggies at all from supermarkets. We do buy some fruit there, but only because it does not grow around here. NJ is not famous for its oranges. In summer, when all the toxic produce comes in from Mexico, we have no worries, knowing that all our food grew withing 20 miles of our home.

Ed

Couldn't check a box as I don't quite match any of them. We have a number of semi-farmer's markets in town that sell some local produce as it is available. We also have ones that have meet intermittently in season and some cooperatives. Mostly I take advantage of what I can at the semi markets as I do my grocery shopping weekday evenings. Too much else to do with a Saturday.

Ed, isn't there an Orange, NJ?

Heloo from Hastings Michigan!
We have a nice farmers market. It is on the courthouse lawn, very pretty, with convenient parking right
in front of the vendors, lots of trees and shade. the town is very small, and last weekend, there were
only 5 vendors (us included).

I sell;
home made brown eggs $1.50, organic humane free range fresh
3"x4" watercolours hand done each one in lovely double mats with cellophane $10
heritage rare and named garlics those will be ready end of June, and then the season goes to July for harvesting
perennials, mine are really too small to sell yet.
veg when harvested: lettuces, spices, herbs, tomatoes, fresh flowers

braided garlic wreaths with decor

I might bag up some chicken poop for "top Of the Line Nitrogen Organic systems" something kitchy like that.
Tell folks to make a "manure tea" from it.

Well, thats about it for us at the farmers market.
We don't get that many people, I am hoping that will change, we make most of our money
to live on now with that, and $50 a week is not going to cut it.
Sheri

Attention CountryGardens Bernie:
I read your post about the lamentable showing up of local people.
I have stopped women in the supermarket and asked them why dont they
buy local eggs from farms, and the answer was, "euyyyy, farm eggs?" (meaning UGH).

What gives?
Makes me nuts.
sheri

We have a local farmers market. Nice size, nice stuff. But I try to get to the one down in Madison, WI when ever possible. You can spend hours there. It's fantastic and huge! My arms are loaded and my belly stuffed by time we leave.

We live about 2 miles from a large flea market. Several vendors sell produce nearly year 'round. When I need something fresh, I make sure I go there before heading 9 miles away or more to a chain grocery store. I've recently noticed a sign in front of someone's home off the main state highway that says 'fresh eggs' ;-)

My nephew raises chickens now so I have a fresh supply of at least 2-1/2 dozen farm fresh eggs. As soon as those are gone, I'll be driving 5 miles from home to get more!

I'm seriously considering selling plants there next spring. I have bought many good sized, healthy, homegrown tomato plants, peppers, etc. there from some of the same vendors. I'd like to sell my Piper auritums, Pineapple Sage, Thai Basil, etc. because I haven't ever seen any up there. I would imagine I could sell quite a few things no one else up there sells and do well.