I love this time of year, because the farmers’ market start to open back up and are flooded with piles of fresh produce, handmade cheeses, breads, etc. It gives you that self-righteous European-inspired connections with your food. It also allows you to try varieties that the grocery stores just don’t carry, or artisan recipes that only small-batch baking and preparing can yield. At the very least, it’s a pretty good way to log some steps on the ol’ pedometer.
I have always been kind of drawn to eating more locally. Maybe it’s the gardener in me? Maybe is the pragmatic, live simply puritan in me? Either way, the farmers’ markets totally scratch the itch. If you plan on ditching a couple of trips to the grocery store in lieu of an experience with your weekly food, here’s a couple of things to remember:
1. Take your own bags, containers, or even a cooler
You’ll be walking from vendor to vendor, you don’t want to have to cart your purchases around in flimsy plastic bags. Plus, those bags cost the vendors money, and those prices get passed right onto you. If you like to buy the specialty sausages, meats, eggs, etc., you may want to consider a cooler. I personally like the kind you can pull like luggage, and I have no issues with rolling it around like an idiot. All the cool people are doing it.
2. Timing is key
If you want the BEST selection, plan to hit the pavement early in the morning. First thing in the morning will give you the cream of the crop. You’ll get to handpick the best of what the vendor has to offer. If you like to throw caution to the wind and take your chances on what you’ll get, go LATE to get deeper discounts. Vendors will start marking down their wares later in the day so that they don’t have to cart things home.
3. Stock up on in season items
If you don’t garden, or you don’t have certain crops, say like your own apple tree, stock up when the prices are low. Most vendors will even offer you a bulk discount. That way, you can go home and fire up the canner–you know, to get you through those long winter produce droughts.
4. Be flexible
I know menu planning is the key to saving money, and saving money is radical, but when it comes to the farmers’ market, sticking to a rigid list can end up costing you money. It’s one of those places you have to plan for the week on the fly, like the crazy spontaneous animal that you are. Keep your eye out for the best deals and plan around those.
5. Cash is king
Carry cash. Yes, vendors typically take credit cards, but again, it drives their prices up, and it takes time for the card to process. Cash means you pay and get onto the next vendor. Keepin’ it simple.
6. Get cozy with the vendors
Get to know the vendors. A lot of times, even though things aren’t labeled “organic” when you start talking to the farmers, they did grow it organically, but didn’t want to pay the high cost of getting it “certified.” You’ll also know what you can expect from them in upcoming weeks. Oh, and they are a great reference for really good recipes on produce you are less familiar cooking/serving.
7. Shop around
It’s a rookie mistake to buy all of your produce at the first vendor you stop at. They have the advantage of being at the mouth of the market, but that doesn’t mean they have the best produce or prices. Go around the block, then circle back if they are in fact the best.
8. Don’t purchase more than you can eat
Seems like a no-brainer, I know, but when you get there and everything is all brightly colored and healthy looking, there is this tendency to go crazy. Remember that if you are planning on eating it fresh {as opposed to taking it home and putting it up in some way}, you’ll want to have reasonable expectations about what you can cram down your gullet in any given week.
Any of you farmers’ market junkies? What are your tips for making the most of the market?
~Mavis
This post may contain affiliate links. These affiliate links help support this site. For more information, please see my disclosure policy. Thank you for supporting One Hundred Dollars a Month.
Rebecca in MD says
I just visited my first farmers’ market of the season. It was just four vendors in the parking lot of our campus, but they had enough goodies to get me to part with $20 of my hard-earned cash. I picked up some Hot Pepper Mustard Butter, some pickled peppers, fresh asparagus, a sage plant, and a lavender plant. The stand with the peppers and hot pepper mustard butter had all kinds of butters (pumpkin, cherry rhubarb, apple, blackberry/jalapeno) with an open jar and basket of crackers so you could sample all the goodness. All of them were $4.50 a jar, but all tasty homemade goodness.
My tip would be to splurge once in awhile for these treats that you would never get at the grocery store or pay that much for in a grocery store – – – the quality is worth the cost.
By the way, if you are interested in a recipe for hot pepper mustard butter here’s a recipe: http://onesunnyacre.blogspot.com/2010/08/hot-pepper-mustard.html. I’m going to use the Clear Gel instead of flour, as recommended by some of the comments.
Beth says
Mavis, we are in the Tacoma/ Seattle area from the Midwest and would like to go to a farmer’s market. Do you have a suggestion to where to go for one?
Brooke says
The Puyallup Farmer’s Market is huge and has crafts, soaps, lotions, breads, candy, a food truck court and the fruits, vegetables and flowers as well as garden starts.
Mavis Butterfield says
The Puyallup Farmer’s Market is a good one with a big mix of vendors. The Tacoma markets are much smaller.
Beth says
We went to the Puyallup Farmer’s market this morning. It was amazing! Thank you for The suggestion!
Mandy Mascaro says
I like the idea of farmer’s markets, but I have to say that I don’t actually like going to them. I always feel like the vendors are really pushy and they make me feel bad about leaving their stalls without buying anything. And the prices!!!! I don’t know if it’s just my area of the country (I’m in south Louisiana), but everything seems ridiculously overpriced when I go to them. I actually prefer going to open air produce markets. There are a few in my area that are open year round and you can usually get really good deals at them, especially in the summer.
mable says
Our farmers’ markets are seriously over-priced. Then I found out that our major grocery store buys their tomatoes from the same guy who has a stall at the market—and sells them for a dollar a pound less than the farmer does! Also, over half of our farmer market is crappy, over-priced junk. Painted rocks, really? I don’t even bother going anymore.
Earlene says
We live in northern Wisconsin, our growing season is short and we are tired of fighting with the deer and rabbits for our veggies. So, I go once a week to the farmers market. I have $30 and when that is gone it’s gone. I buy green beans, tomatoes, onions, and bok choy. Our farmers market has many vendors who are Hmong and their produce is so beautiful, their flowers are gorgeous!!! Last summer was the first time in 10 years that they had other vendors like crafting people, people selling their coffee, honey seems to be a big theme, and they had garden ornaments. So our little community in nowhere Wisconsin is moving up and it’s a good thing. I do work in a grocery store so I know prices, so if the tomatoes are more than the store, the store wins my money.
Preppy Pink Crocodile says
I LOVE farmers markets! I’ve been lucky enough to live no more than two blocks from one in the past 15 or so years. And while both are much much larger and more lively in the spring/summer/fall months, they {Eastern Market in DC and Troy Farmers Market in Troy, NY} are both open year-round. Something I think is under appreciated about them is that if you don’t have a huge family to feed, you can buy just one or two sausages or potatoes or whatever instead of the giant packages that you often have to purchase at a grocery store. Cuts down on waste!
Rene Bennett says
I sell at local markets in my area. I know how hard vendors work to put out high quality fairly priced goods. I love visiting with my locals who come back every week. Some markets do profile a lot of artisans, but a lot also have mostly just Farmers or home produced foods. It does pay to check out several different markets to find one that has what you want.
Carolina says
Lots of real farmers’ markets here in seacoast New Hampshire, June thru mid-October. There is one every day of the week, in fact! The biggest one is in Portsmouth—on Saturdays. They have everything, including live music, and plenty of variety—not everyone selling the same veggies. My town’s market is on Wednesday, starting June 7th this year—and includes a vendor who sells maple syrup from her own trees. Bring it on!
Carrie says
There is a small market two blocks from my house, maybe 10-20 vendors depending on season. Majority of the vendors have urban farms or are hobbyist who live in my neighborhood but there are two larger farms that offer meats and a CSA. Even the crafts are inexpensive. There is a woman who does pottery and sells small soap dishes for $3-$5. It makes such a great gift along with the goat milk soap that another vendor has. The kombucha lady even gave me a free starter so I could make my own! People are so nice but it could just be NC.
I like to save money where I can but I always make a point to spend $20 every week at the market to stimulate the local economy. Gotta do my part and eat good local food at the same time!
Rachel says
Actually, farmers market vendors often don’t discount anything near the end of market time because the people who came at the end expecting unreasonable deals got out of hand. It’s insulting to the farmers. Instead, near the end, they just barter with each other with the things they have left on hand.
Laura says
I kinda think that the farmers markets have gone the way of thrift stores. Way too expensive! Many of our local vendors purchase their items wholesale and just sell at the market. I go about once a year just for fun and to see if anything has changed. I generally leave empty handed because it is a bit of a rip off. I would rather go to our local Korean market that has fabulous produce at great prices (lettuce that lasts ages in the fridge without going bad!).