Cookbook Swap

 Picked up a lot of extra cookbooks during the epidemic?  You can donate them to benefit Good Samaritan House at the Carbondale Farmers' Market this Saturday. You can also take books, should you wish, for a donation to Good Sam.

Hump Day Market

 The Hump Day Market, in the Gold Gym/ CVS parking lot on the west side of town, returns for its second year on April 7.  This will be the second go round for a Wednesday afternoon farmer's market in Carbondale. Carbondale Main Street hosted one downtown in the area around the square fountain for a few years but vendor attendance got rather sporadic towards the end.

Winter Farmer's Market

 Looks as if the Winter Farmer's Market is up and running in the east wing of the University Mall, Not sure if you can enter through Bed Bath and Beyond or only through the main entrance 

Farmer's Markets

 It appears Carbondale will have 2 Farmer's Markets for the immediate future. The indoor market at University Mall started the first Saturday of December and the Westtown/Murdale Farmer's Market for as long as the weather remains favorable, likely ending at Christmas but don't hold me to that. We ahve had far warmer and better weather later in the season than Carbondale normally gets.

Farmer's Market

 Next Saturday is the last Saturday of the year for the Murdale Farmer's Market at the outside location at Murdale. After that, it moves inside to the east End of University Mall starting December 5th. The market has announced it will offer curbside pickup but not sure how that will work. Apparently you put in orders through the market website and someone will bring the order out to you.

Farmers' Markets Down?

Although there is no research to support it, anecdotal evidence leads the departing head of the Illinois Stewardship Alliance to say that shoppers at farmers' markets in Illinois have dropped significantly over the past few years. Anyone connected with the Murdale Farmers' Market have any thoughts? When I go, crowds seem really good on sunny days and noticeably sparse on cloudy ones.

We're Number Three!

The editors of Midwest Traveler, the member magazine of AAA, selected the  Farmer's Market of Carbondale as the third best farmer's market in the Midwest. The only two markets ranked higher were the City Market in Kansas City and the Soulard Farmer's Market in St. Louis, so the Carbondale Farmer's Market is in pretty good company

Farmers Market Liquor Licenses

Looks as if one of the Carbondale Farmers Markets may be applying for a liquor license. From the LAB Agenda:

Roll Call 2. Approval of minutes from April 7, 2016 3.
Application from Carbondale Tourism for a Class F1 liquor license (temporary; beer/wine only) to conduct sales of alcohol for a “Live On Series” concert scheduled between 6:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m. on June 17, 2016, on the 200 block of West Monroe Street and the Carbondale Civic Center parking lot

4. Review of third quarter reports (January – March) for the 2015-2016 liquor license year and review of annual reports prior to liquor license renewals
5. Discussion of Farmers’ Market liquor sales and temporary extended premises permits

 6. Liquor license renewals for the 2016-2017 license year (July 2016 – June 2017)

New Farmer's Market In Carbondale

It looks as if another farmer's market will open in Carbondale this year. From the RPFM Carbondale Facebook page:

The deal is made and the location is secured. Most folks guessed correct on the final location.. The South side of the building and parking lot of where The Auto Shop is on 317 East Main Street This will be a year round market and will run rain or shine since if its raining we can open the big door and everyone can set up inside the 30' x 60' portion of the building. A sign will be going up on the board where the other businesses in the building signs are sometime befor April. As I said in an earlier post this will also be the home office of the Regional Producer Farmers Market. Open Market Days will be Thursdays from 3pm-7pm and Saturdays From 2PM - 6pm. The Seasonal Vendors will also be able to set up and sell on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Seasonal Vendors are guaranteed one of the 14 indoor stalls/displays and will be a farmers market Wednesday through Saturday. The advertising will begin in March as will Vendor sign up. Folks this is a great location with easy in and out access for market visitors, a very near downtown C'dale location, room for 14 outdoor vendors and 14 indoor Vendors (Possibly a few more), open 4 days per week and will function sort of like a co-op except the people producing the food will be the one there selling the food. We will have a limited number of tables and tents available for those who don't have them and I am going to be building market stalls on wheels/casters that can be rolled in and out of the building, for those that wish to use them. Now its getting real 

Carbondale Main Street sponsored a Wednesday afternoon farmer's market on the town square for a couple of years but could not get sufficient vendors to attain critical mass so as to make it self sustaining. Here's hoping the Regional Producers Farmers Market does so.

Murdale Farmers Market Events

From a PR sent out by the Carbondale Farmers Market:

On Saturday, August 9, the Carbondale Farmers Market on the city’s west end will celebrate National Farmers Week with plenty of freshly picked produce, live local music and fine art made by local talent. Visitors can expect sweet corn, heirloom tomatoes, a wide variety of cherry tomatoes, green beans, potatoes and a whole slew of seasonal summer fruits and vegetables. Aside from fruits and veggies, the market also offers a solid selection of local meats such as grass-fed and -finished beef; bison; pork; and poultry. Folks will also find free-range eggs, locally-grown oyster and shiitake mushrooms and honey. Live music will entertain people as they walk up and down the market thoroughfare while enjoying hot or iced coffee with locally-made baked goods.

Since the USDA declared National Farmers Market Week 15 years ago, the number of farmers markets has more than doubled, from 2,863 markets in 2000 to over 8,000 in 2013.  There are more than 347 farmers markets in Illinois alone. These numbers have continued to rise in 2014 as farmers markets become fresh food mainstays for shoppers across all socio-economic, political, and ethnic ranges. Farmers markets bolster local economies, improve community health, and bring diverse groups of people together through a shared social space. 

The Carbondale Farmers Market was organized in 1975 and currently boasts 27 farming families who sell a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, meats, baked goods and more. Many of these families have been farming for three and four generations. Others have just started. All work hard to grow good food for local markets. People who shop at the Carbondale Farmer’s Market help to support these hardworking family farmers while keeping money circulating in the local economy.

“Farmers markets grow healthy farms, healthy people, and healthy communities” says Pat Stieren, Executive Director of the Illinois Farmers Market Association.  “During a slow economic recovery, farmers markets are stand-out successes in delivering triple bottom line benefits while making entrepreneurship work in communities large and small.  During Farmers Market Week, we invite everyone to celebrate their local farmers markets and enjoy fresh local food from America’s most innovative farmers.”

On Tuesday, August 5, Carbondale Mayor Don Monty will read a proclamation announcing the city’s support of National Farmers week during the city council meeting.

A week earlier on Saturday, August 2, the market will honor its customers during Customer Appreciation Day. The event will feature Chef Bill Connors and crew, who will grill fresh, marinated veggies and meats for folks to sample during Saturday’s market. Chef Bill, the head chef for Southern Illinois University Housing, knows how to feed a crowd and has always been a popular presence at the market. Chef Bill is great at answering questions about how to use and prepare the food that people can get at the market. The market invites all and one to visit and try some of the free grilled food samples on from 8 am to noon on Saturday, August 2.

Year Round Farmers Market

There is a lot of interest in a location for a year round farmer's market in Carbondale, beyond the one that operates at the high school. The photo below (taken by D. Gorton) shows about half the room at the June 3 meeting held to explore the possibility:

The problem is, of course, funding. The city will raise its sales tax by 1/2% on July 1 to help cover pensions, among other expenses. If the city must raise taxes in order to pay current bills, it certainly does not have the money to fund the construction of a year round market building. The city, however, could provide land for the construction of such a structure. There are several plots of land in downtown that currently sit empty that the city could make available for a market building. However, it will probably be up to a private group to raise the funds for its construction

Year Round Farmers Market

There will be a public meeting to discuss the possibility of a permanent location for a year-round farmers market tomorrow night, June 3, at 7 p.m at the Civic Center.

For those who don't know, there are two farmers markets in Carbondale that operate Saturday morning, the decades old one that operates on the west side of town and the more recent one that sets up in the Carbondale Community High School parking lot during spring through fall and moves inside during the winter months. Councilwoman Jane Adams has a post with her thoughts on her blog.

From what I understand, the plan would be, ideally, to find or construct a location large enough for both markets to set up and weatherproof to allow them to operate 52 weeks a year. The Civic Center is a possibility but Saturdays require an all day rental, rather than just the morning. I don't think the Civic Center is large enough to house both markets comfortably, either.

I have not ventured inside the CCHS building in several years so, while the parking lot is certainly large enough to accommodate two markets, I do not know about the interior so have no idea if the combined markets could fit inside.

Possibly University Mall? I have seen successful farmer markets set up inside of malls before and the empty Food Court at UM has quite a bit of unused space, though many of the tables and chairs would need removing.

Another option are the two vacant lots in downtown along the railroad tracks where Southern Recycling and Peerless Laundry used to sit. It would certainly be nice to have something built there and a farmers market would draw people into downtown, something the city council has said is of great importance to them. Parking might be an issue, as both of the current markets have access to large amount of it and moving them into one location could tax available parking. Plus, from where would the money for construction come? The city is operating under budgetary constraints as it is, recently passing sales tax increases to cover costs, so likely does not have the funds available to embark on an ambitious building plan.

Winter Market

In case you would like to catch the grand opening of the Carbondale Winter Farmer's Market, it is tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Thomas School.  Not sure where at Thomas School but expect there will be signs.

Winter Farmer's Market

Looks as if we have a Winter Farmer's Market starting in the cafeteria of Thomas School the weekend after the Murdale Farmer's Market shuts down. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. December 1 through March 23.

Not with a Bang...

but with a whimper. Got an email yesterday announcing the Downtown Grower's Market, located on the town square, is closing for the year. Apparently their produce growers did not have enough fruits and vegetables available to justify setting up their stands for the rest of the season.

While the crafters and artists were willing to keep setting up, people come to markets like this for the produce, with the crafts impulse purchases until October and November when the Christmas season gets here. My understanding is that Carbondale Main Street plans to discuss how to retool the market for next year, perhaps moving it to a different day (and for those who say it should not have set up Saturday morning against the Murdale Farmer's Market, the attending growers had requested Saturday, since they were not able to get booth space at the Murdale Market).

Growers Market Cancelled

I see from the the Carbondale Main Street Facebook page that the downtown Grower's Market was canceled due to rain. Granted we did receive 3" of much needed rain last night but still, the Murdale Farmer's Market and the yard sale at the Arena both went off. If CMS wants to build the downtown market, it needs to take place regularly, regardless of the weather.

Farmer's Market

Some nice photos of the fist C'dale Farmers Market of the season on the Local Matters blog.

Murdale Farmer's Market Open

Looks like the opening of the season for the Murdale Farmer's market got off to a sunny start.