YAY! It's finally time for the farm market again! Saturday was our first one of the season, and I don't even mind getting up with the alarm on a Saturday morning when I know I'll get first pick of the organic/chemical-free produce, and then have my cup of coffee from Frenz afterward, of course.
I even met a neat young couple there, from Earthkeeper Farm, with signs on their table that said, “Sustainable Farm” and “Chemical Free” – they told me everything was harvested THAT morning! What a find! (I always look for those tables first and get all I can there, before moving to the other tables for anything else I need.) They even said I could bring the kids out to their farm anytime, to show them where their food comes from!
I love this time of year!
- Find a local farm market near you!
- Here's the solution I use to wash my produce
- Why eat local, organic, sustainable food? (A lot of information here, including a listing of which produce is the most healthy and least healthy, as well as a link to a site with a chart telling which produce is sprayed with pesticides the most and the least.)
- Check out these side dish recipes – many ideas for what to do with all your farm market produce (you'll have to scroll down through them all until I have a chance to set up an index post)
- Here's why you want to avoid genetically modified produce
photo by iLoveButter
Barb, that IS good to know, thanks for sharing that info!
I forgot to mention Sweetwater Local Foods Market near Muskegon on Harvey St.
In this year’s economic…um-mm…difficulties, good news (I think): Fulton Street Farmers Market in GR will be accepting the Bridge Card (replacement for food stamps) for the first time. I’m pleased that ‘low’ income people (like us) will be able to benefit from ‘high’ quality foods.
Also, at our CSA (Trillium Haven), sometimes somebody will have a week or two where they are unable to pick up their share, so the owners offer it to others who just want to try it out (me, a few years ago), or can’t afford a share (us, this year).
Natalie,
You could always start out by splitting a share with a friend, then go to a full share later if needed. This way you could take turns doing pick up, too!
Kelly
In an e-mail from Natalie:
“I just wanted to let you know that Menards is having a sale on their Ball Mason Jars this week plus there is up to a $4 mail-in rebate. The rebate check is in the form of a merchandise credit at the store. So if you or anyone you know is looking for more mason jars this canning/preserving season, now might be the time to stock up. I shopped the Alpine store, and there was a great selection and lots of them too. It is the only place I have found the
Every time I have shopped at the Fulton Street Farmer’s Market, I feel like I come away with a ton of food for having spent hardly any money so I feel that farmer’s markets are much more economical than shopping at the grocery store for the same items.
At the Fulton Street Market there are also vendors selling items such as homemade soaps, homemade cutting boards (absolutely beautiful by the way), plants and cut flowers, several bread and pastry vendors, jewelry, home-canned items, raw honey, frozen meat, fresh eggs, etc. Some vendors change weekly so it adds some variety, and if you have the time it is worth it to walk the entire market.
I have been to the Plainfield Township farmer’s market across from Belmont Elementary school which is held on Thursday from 3-7 p.m. It was very small, but we have to remember that it is just starting out. I recognized a few of the people selling their fruits and vegetables as “regulars” on Saturday at the Fulton Street Market. One thing I didn’t like was that several of the stands didn’t have signs indicating the name of the farm and where they were from. Hopefully this will change in the future.
There was someone there selling pulled-pork barbeque, hot dogs, etc. There is also a non-profit stand which changes weekly. This past week it was the YMCA. Apparently there are also class offerings at 3:15 p.m. (young gardeners) and at 4:15 p.m. and 5:15 p.m. I don’t know if there is a schedule of classes posted anywhere.
One more comment about prices. I have seen the price of strawberries fluctuate between sellers. I have seen it at $3.50 per quart and at $3.00 per quart within the same farm market so in that regard it might be worth it to walk around a little before making a purchase. Of course price isn’t always the sole determining factor. You have to consider size of the fruit, ripeness, etc. Now I just went to Krupps Farm and paid $2.12 per quart, but I also purchased 8 quarts at one time.
Has anyone ever purchased a CSA from a local farm and received produce from them weekly? I know it is pricey, but I think it would force me to try new produce that I wouldn’t even think of buying. I’m curious to know the pros and cons of this. I’m afraid it might be too much produce for my family. Maybe it might be better to split the share with a friend…and I worry about spending all the money up-front and then not having a good yield from the crops that year due to weather, insects, etc.
Overall though, I highly recommend everyone shop at their local farmer’s market!
Hi Andrew & Rachelle,
I won’t get to visit you in the morning, we’re off on vacation. But we’re excited to come visit your farm with a big group on 7/24! 🙂
Thanks for your comment,
Kelly
Great Blog! Thanks for the post about the farmers market. It is nice to have such wonderful support in growing the vegetables chemical free.
When pricing, we go with what we think is a fair price. Some factors we consider are how labor intensive the crop is, our seed and farm costs, and supermarket prices. I think that this year with higher food prices, shoppers may find cheaper pricing at the farmers market because the food is local and therefore the farmer/vendor has paid less to get it to market.
Good luck shopping.
Thanks,
Andrew and Rachelle,
Earthkeeper Farm
There is also a Farm Market now in Belmont, close to Belmont Elementary. I have never been…Has anyone else?
As far as prices are concerned, I shop like you, Kel. I don’t expect comparable prices but I do price shop a little. One word of caution…I do find that there are occasionally vendors at farm markets that have chepaer prices, but I have also noticed that these are the same ones that have produce suspiciously out of season. I try to avoid these vendors and shop the smaller farms.
Hi Teena,
Locally the biggest farm market is the one on Fulton Street, or also the one in Rockford on Saturday mornings. (And I believe there’s one in Ada.)
To find one in other areas, go to http://www.localharvest.org.
To tell you the truth, I don’t pay as much attention to the prices as I probably should – I always know that the nutritional value is so much higher when I buy local, that it is worth it to me. But sometimes within the farmers market you’ll see price differences. If I need a lot of something I’ll walk down through and often find the same thing a little cheaper at another table.
Does anyone else have more info on farm market prices that they can share?
Where is the Farmer’s Market?
Are prices comparable to grocery stores?