Show your love for the market!

When you support the Midtown Farmers Market, you’re supporting local farmers, sustainable agriculture, and healthy communities–you’re helping to create the kind of community we all want to live in. Mark your calendars for Give to the Max 2012!

Thank you for your support of the market!

Your gift helps us thrive as a local farmers market in the heart of the city, bringing together growers and neighbors in the open air to enjoy fresh food, local music, and a vibrant, diverse, and supportive community.

Thank you for making our 10th season so successful!

Over the past 6 months, more than 55,000 customers attended 48 Saturday and Tuesday markets where 85 local vendors provided fresh fruits and vegetables, delicious prepared foods, meat, cheese, eggs, bread, preserves, honey, beautiful bedding plants and flower bouquets, and handmade arts and crafts.

More than 40 neighborhood businesses and organizations shared their work at the market as sponsors, community tables, or participants in special event days that ranging from Bike Day to Scandinavian Day to the Native American Day Celebration. Families enjoyed 6 market story times hosted by the East Lake Library and 6 “Second Saturday” community learning activities with Master Naturalist Martha Zemur. Customers sampled recipes featuring market meat and produce at 5 Midtown Flavors cooking demonstrations headed up by market volunteer Lisa McDonald, and Master Gardeners provided expertise on 17 market Saturdays.

More than 12,000 pounds of produce were donated to Sisters’ Camelot by vendors and customers. And during our 3rd season of offering a $5 match in Market Buck coupons for customers using SNAP-EBT at the market*, Outreach Organizer Maria Alvillar distributed information at over 40 area organizations, leading to a record $18,500 in EBT token sales and more than $8,000 in Market Bucks dispersed. Dedicated volunteers put in over 800 hours of work for the market this year-they provided music, helped at the market booth, gave us a hand with set-up and take-down, and completed fundraising and marketing projects as part of the Midtown Farmers Market’s Advisory Committee.

Finally, our 10th Season has been filled with community investment, connections, and celebration of the neighborhood that can’t be quantified. Thank you for a wonderful year. We’ll look forward to reuniting at next year’s season opener on May 4, 2013!

Give to the Max: November 15th!

While the season has come to an end, the market wheels are still turning as we look to next year’s season and how we can better serve the market community. But we can’t do it alone! We need your help. One of the simplest ways you can help is to give. And what better day to give to the market than on Give to the Max day, November 15th. To make it even easier, this year Give MN offers the option of scheduling your donations now.

Vendor fees pay for only 50% of the cost of running the market, which is why support from the community is vital to keep the market thriving! When you support the Midtown Farmers Market, you’re supporting local farmers, sustainable agriculture, and healthy communities–you’re helping to create the kind of community we all want to live in. So, schedule your donations now, or mark your calendars to donate to the Midtown Farmers Market during this year’s Give to the Max Day November 15th!

Last market – grab your kale (and pumpkins, honey, apples, and more)!

Did you know? Kale is one of the healthiest vegetables you can eat. It contains loads of vitamins A, B, C, and K as well as a wealth of antioxidants. AND you can get a bundle this week before the season is over! Tuesday, October 30th will mark the end of this market season. So be sure and get that last produce to fill your root cellars, freezers, or canning cupboards before winter hits us in full force! Saturday will be filled with produce, baked goods, prepared foods, warm beverages, beautiful handmade crafts and a special musical guest - Cactus Blossoms. Stop by Tuesday for one last chance to grab your fall pumpkins, fresh kale, honey, apples, or whatever else you hope to fill your shelves with to hold you over until next year!

What’s Available? 

This Saturday find:

Pumpkins, Pumpkins, Everywhere!

“When you see me in the fields,
My orange glowing in the sun,
It’s time to say goodbye to summer
and hello to autumn fun!!”

Pumpkins are showing up everywhere around the market these days – big ones, little ones, green ones, orange ones, oblong ones and round ones. Not only do they make great decor for you, but they can also be the main ingredient in a variety of meals and desserts. They are even good for you – stocked full of vitamin A and E.

Check out the recipe below and include pumpkins in your next meal. Stop by the market on Saturday to pick up some pumpkins and stay for the music, coffee, baked goods and other prepared foods. Tuesday will also be filled with pumpkins, music and other produce for you to stock up on for the upcoming winter (the market will be open until the end of October).

What’s Available?

This Saturday find:
~Apples, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, carrots, squash, beets, pumpkins, kale, chard, kohlrabi, broccoli, peppers, green beans, cauliflower, cabbage, meat, eggs, jams and jellies, artisan bread, lamb, cheese, butter, yogurt, honey
~Coffee, scones, cookies, tacos, breakfast sandwiches, fruit tarts, omelets, tamales, Chai, soda, hamburgers, brats, boiled peanuts
~Handmade ceramics, soaps and lotions, aprons, felt creations, toy vegetables

This Tuesday find:
~Pumpkins, squash, tomatoes, potatoes, beets, Brussels sprouts, carrots, kale, broccoli, apples, honey, cauliflower, kohlrabi, cabbage, herbs, artisan bread, jams and jellies

This week at the market: 

Share your favorite recipes with the community.

“Food is so primal, so essential a part of our lives, often the mere sharing of recipes with strangers turns them into good friends.  That’s why I love this community.”  

-Jasmine Heiler 

People commune around food every day. What better way to unite the community than to share our favorite recipes? Send us your best market recipes – along with your name and your neighborhood – to be shared with the market community. Then prepare for the release of our market recipe archive this winter where you will be able to see everyone’s market recipes in one place.

Make sure to stop by the market this Saturday or Tuesday to pick up your fall produce. The harvest season is quickly coming to a close as the temperatures begin to drop. Stock up on squash in the next few weeks for the months to come (the market will be open through the end of October).

What’s Available? 

This Saturday find: