Getting Warmed Up

We had another fabulous Market Saturday last weekend. Honestly, the weather so far this season has been incredible, if a little on the warm side. IT IS MAY, AND IT HAS BEEN A LITTLE ON THE WARM SIDE. After last May's cool and cloudy series of Markets, this is not a bad thing.


So. We took more photos. If you want to see them in the large style, click on the images:

Shoppers can expect more of the same this weekend with warm temperatures and sunny skies and lots of strawberries. As always, it is highly recommended that you come early for the best selection of everything, especially with the warm weather. Asparagus, peas, berries, lettuces, spinach, chard, leeks, greenhouse zukes, green garlic and onions, turnips and radishes, and probably lots more will be out for your perusal this weekend. Flowers, plants, meats, goat cheese and goat's milk gelato, honey, jams and jellies, and scratch-made baked goods will also be ready to go home with you this weekend. YUM. We're telling you, it's an embarrassment of riches out there for so early in the season.


We also have tons of high-quality handmade goods being sold at the Market - we're talking jewelry, photos, soap, woodwork, candles, paintings, upcycled clothing, bags and satchels, and much more. And, as always, you'll find performers scattered throughout the Market, playing music from many genres for patron enjoyment.


Of note this weekend: Our first Sprouts at the Market event is happening from 9-11 AM. 

Our May event is always a seed-planting workshop for kids ages 3-8 - this year, sunflowers are the planting plan. Join Market staff and a cadre of volunteers as we plant seeds, talk about what the plants will look like, look at other types of seeds and the foods they grow into, and more! It's free and there's no pre-registration required. All participating kids get a Certificate of Participation, which can be used for a discount during the day at Art Mart Toys in Lincoln Square Mall. 


Next week: More details on our first Art at the Market workshop and accompanying Performance on Walnut Street series... plus a special treat! Stay tuned.

Getting Into Gear

We were so busy on our opening day last weekend that we were only able to take twelve photos. Twelve! Check out these four:

Market-goers were clearly anxious for the 2012 Market season to begin, as they descended upon the spring food immediately and made quick work of it, especially the strawberries. There'll be more strawberries available this week, but as always, we recommend arriving at the Market early for the best selection. Asparagus will be around this week, plus some more traditional spring items like lettuces, salad greens, spinach, radishes, turnips, baby carrots, leeks, fresh herbs, etc. Plants starts will still be offered by several vendors as well, and cut flowers, too (perfect if your mom is into lovely bouquets for Mother's Day).


It actually was a great day all-around. There was sun, thousands of people, lots of food, beautiful artisanal items for sale, lots of music, and all-around good vibes. Thank you to our patrons for making it one of the best opening days in... well, ever.


Let's do it again this week!

The Devil's in the Details

Furious last-minute preparations! Crossing things off lists! Sending frantic emails! Fretting about the weather! That's what's happening here today. We'll be ready in the morning, though...

Wondering what kinds of food to buy tomorrow? We advise you to bring multiple shopping bags to receive the bounty. Lots of spinach, lettuces, salad mixes, beets, radishes, baby carrots, green onions, arugula, kale, chard, and the crown jewels - the foods everyone is waiting for at the spring Markets:

Yep, farmers will have asparagus and strawberries. Maybe even some rhubarb. And flowers. And plant starts. And farm-raised meats, cheeses, honey, prepared foods/preserves, baked goods, gelato...

A vast array of artisans will also be there, weather permitting, and our community groups will be located in Row 5 this year, with the Crave Truck and other food trucks as they arrive. Look for performers scattered throughout the Market, too!

The City tent will be right in front of you if you come in at the NW entrance - THERE WILL BE NO THRU TRAFFIC rounding that corner from High to Walnut (at the corner of Health Alliance). It's a dangerous corner on Market days, so we wanted to make it safer. It'll also give us more room. Parking will not be affected - all parking spaces will still be available. If you have any questions, if you run out of cash and want to buy tokens to use in the Market with your credit, debit, or LINK card, if you need to buy a T-shirt or tote bag - we'll be right there, occasionally with programming or partner agencies, like the Urbana Business Association or the Urbana Free Library or Art at the Market or Sprouts.

OK. We have to go - so much to finish. See you out there tomorrow morning!

Final Countdown

Hm. A longer update was promised quite awhile ago, but it's been a crazy spring visiting farms:

PrairiErth Farm in Atlanta, IL

Processing applications:

Incredibly messy desk

and making Market plans. Updating the Internet on our doings kind of fell by the wayside, so we offer apologies all around! There will absolutely be more updates now that the season gets underway... gulp... a week from tomorrow.

The Market is never the same year-to-year, so longtime patrons will notice some changes in 2012. Among them:

- New vendors. Every year we're lucky enough to have new vendors in every category. We're looking forward to PrairiErth Farm joining us this year (Row 4), as well as Ludwig Farmstead Creamery (Row 4) and a wide variety of food producers and artisans. Any vendor that has a website will get added to our sidebar soon. It's also worth noting that many of our vendors have Facebook pages now - if you go to the Market's Facebook page and check out our "likes", you'll see them. We're updating as fast as we can! If you're interested in becoming a vendor at the Market, check out out vendor information page.

- Missing vendors. Every year some folks decide not to come back - they retire, or they move on to other endeavors. While it's hard to list everyone who might not be back this year (some may decide to join us later in the season), we know Steve and Connie Owens have retired from the flower business. Fortunately, Connie's cousin, Glen, is in the same business growing a lot of the same flowers - glads, mixed bouquets, etc. You'll find Oosterhoff and Son at the north end of Row 2, where Steve and Connie's spaces were. Steve and Connie sold flowers at the Market for over 20 years and were absolutely wonderful to work with. Also not joining us this year are Charlie Draper and John Coppess. Both these gentlemen work with leather and made great stuff - we'll definitely miss them as they spend time with grandchildren (Charlie) and pursue a career in music (John).

- Community organization re-relocation. Looking for the Champaign County Democrats? How about the Eastern Illinois Foodbank, U of I's Science at the Market, CIMIC, the Forest Preserve, or a host of other groups? You'll find them in row 5, facing east, in the same row as the Crave Truck and hopefully a bunch of other food trucks/prepared food booths. If your group is interested in participating, the application materials are available here.

- City tent relocation. The City tent (and those of its partner agencies) will no longer blend in with the vendor booths at the north end of the Market. We'll be moving to the intersection of Walnut and High Streets at the northwest so we'll be the first thing you see if you enter the Market that way. We're where you get your Market Scratch tokens (credit, debit, and LINK accepted!), your Market T-shirts, and information about vendors, groups, performance, and City of Urbana programs and services. This means, however....

- Walnut Street/High Street intersection will be closed to through traffic. This is the intersection at the corner near Health Alliance - the one you walk through to get to Common Ground Food Co-op or Art Mart from the Market (or vice-versa). It's become a dangerous intersection over the years, especially with the increase in foot traffic to and from Lincoln Square from the Market. We also needed more room and higher visibility for the City tent. To remedy these situations, vehicular traffic will no longer be permitted through the intersection. We'll have signs on the gates to remind you as you approach. This will not affect the number of parking spaces or vehicles' ability to navigate the parking lots themselves. Please note that Lot 24, just south of the Market site (west of the dry cleaner's) has plenty of space open to patrons as well.

- Walnut Street Performance Area. On the last Saturday of each month (except October), in conjunction with the Urbana Public Arts Program's "Art at the Market" series, we'll present live acoustic performances from local musicians in the Walnut Street area, just west of the Market site. The talent's been booked, and we'll announce very soon who these artists are. Performers who still wish to busk within the Market site may still do so, as long as they register with the Market first and perform in approved spaces. If you're interested in performing, the application can be found here.

Change is good for the Market, but so is stability - we'll still have most of the excellent vendors you've gotten used to seeing and buying things from, Sprouts at the Market is still going strong (more info about Sprouts coming very soon), the Urbana Free Library will still be out to visit the first weekend of every month, and the Market's incredible good vibes will still abound. It's still the primary place for you, the eater, to meet the person who grew your food (or made your art!). It's important - and fun -  to develop relationships with local producers - we hope you'll join us May 5!

Yep

Longer update soon!

Season's Greetings

Might be easier to get into the holiday spirit if we had some snow - how ABOUT this weather?? - but we'll do our best anyway.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE!

We'll be back in 2012 with news about what we're working on with the Market, stuff going on in the world of food, and much more. Thanks so much for all your support in 2011 - we look forward to seeing everyone on May 5, 2012.

Not-So-Hibernatey

People often wonder what Market staff is up to in the off-season. While we would certainly like to be holed up in a cave somewhere, snuggled under a warm blankie, sipping hot chocolate, and watching Muppet Show reruns on DVD, we're actually doing nothing of the sort. One word sums the off-season up pretty well:


Planning.


Policy nerds, market managers, and farmers enjoy getting together for conferences and exchanging ideas and best practices whenever they can, which is usually in the winter. The Illinois Grassroots Policy Advisory Committee will be having its annual meeting this week, and we'll be there; there's lots to talk about, both successes (Cottage Food Bill) and failures (a good national Farm Bill, for starters). UMATS will be speaking to growers about marketing themselves at one, and possibly two, Farm Beginnings gatherings in January, and will be speaking about community commitment to public markets at the Illinois Specialty Growers Conference, also in January. While we're there, we might be meeting with the Illinois Farmers Market Task Force for the first time, as well as with the steering committee for the fledgling Illinois Farmers Market Network, our statewide association. And it could be that we branch out of Illinois and deeper into the region by attending a conference put on by these folks in Ohio, but we're not sure yet.


Closer to home, we hope to have a Farmers Market Advisory Commission (possibly named something else) ready to go well in advance of the 2012 season, which starts May 5, 2012. There's also a report to deliver about the 2011 season to City Council sometime in January or very early February (for previous years' reports, click here). Applications for the 2012 season will also be available in very early February, and once those start rolling in... whoa. We'll also be working with the C-UPHD on firming up new local cottage food guidelines for food vendors, thanks to a brand new Illinois Cottage Food Bill going into effect January 1, 2012. Then there's the marketing plan, staff, social media upkeep, Sprouts and Art at the Market planning...


We're very much looking forward to the 2012 season and hope you are, too. In the meantime, you can get more frequent updates about our doings (and the doings of others that might interest you) via our Facebook, Twitter, and Google + feeds - links to those are on the right. If you're feeling particularly lonely for the Market on a snowy winter day, you can check out our Flickr page for some summery images - the link to those is on the right, too.


Stay tuned for more news!