To Market, To Market

Sometimes the first day of the Boulder Farmers’ Market finds the street blanketed in snow, or everyone shivering under a freezing hail. Also, the farmers don’t usually have a lot to sell: April 3 is a bit early even for starter plants. But that won’t deter the faithful, who’ve been...

By Juliet Wittman

April 1, 2010

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Sometimes the first day of the Boulder Farmers’ Market finds the street blanketed in snow, or everyone shivering under a freezing hail. Also, the farmers don’t usually have a lot to sell: April 3 is a bit early even for starter plants. But that won’t deter the faithful, who’ve been dreaming about this Saturday morning through the long, cold winter. They know that some vendors will have last year’s well-stored carrots and potatoes, that they’re likely to find honey, that the folks at Abbondanza may just bring seeds, and that someone from the Western Slope might show up with dried fruit and applesauce.

If nothing else, there will be fresh pastries, hot coffee, and the chance to reconnect and talk soil, weather and cookery with their favorite farmers.

The Boulder Farmers’ Market (its sister market in Longmont opens May 1) is the biggest and most successful of its kind in Colorado, a vibrant example of what happens when a community starts connecting with local growers. Over the years, it has developed from a place to buy vegetables to something close to a one-stop shopping experience, with cheese, eggs, bread, beef, pork, lamb, chicken, flour, wine, chocolate, mushrooms and even crayfish available. A month or two into the season, 13th Street between Arapahoe and Canyon, where the market takes place, will be thronged. The market is open on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., through November 6, and, beginning May 5, on Wednesdays from 4 to 8 p.m., through October 6. Go to www.boulderfarmers.org for details.
Saturdays, 8 a.m.-2 p.m.; Wednesdays, 4-8 p.m. Starts: April 3. Continues through Oct. 6, 2010

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Juliet Wittman is an investigative reporter and critic with a passion for theater, literature, social justice and food. She has reviewed theater for Westword for over a decade; for many years, she also reviewed memoirs for the Washington Post. She has won several journalism awards and published essays and short stories in literary magazines. Her novel, Stocker's Kitchen, can be obtained at select local bookstores and on Amazon.

Contact: Juliet Wittman