The second season of the Wintertime Farmers’ Market will open this Saturday at Hope Artiste Village.
There will be 30 (!) vendors at the market, offering more local food than you every thought could grow during the chilly Rhode Island winter:
Carrots, apples, winter squash, onions, garlic, salad greens & lettuce, potatoes, kale, collards, swiss chard, turnips, parsnips, fresh herbs. Poultry, beef, pork, oysters, littleneck clams, lobsters, scallops, fin fish, cheese, yogurt, eggs, bread & pastries, chocolate, coffee, herbal tea, Christmas trees & wreaths.
Every Saturday, from December to late April
11am – 2pm
In the retail wing of Hope Artiste Village
1005 North Main Street
Pawtucket (just over the Providence line) – get directions here!
Easily accessible by my favorite bus, the 99.
Credit, Debit, and EBT accepted.
Check the Farm Fresh RI website for more info. Yum.
A full listing of vendors after the jump. Eat it.
Agraria Farms, Aquidneck Farms, Baby Greens, Barden Family Orchards, Besto Pesto, Big Train Farm, Bomster Scallops, Chris’ Gourmet Treats, Earth Essence Herbals, Farmacy Herbs, Hill Orchards, Jack’s Snacks, Jones Farm, Ledge Ends Produce, Marcia’s Chutney’s, Mello Family Farm, Moosup River Farm, Narragansett Creamery, New Harvest Coffee Roasters, Ocean State Chocolates & Confections, Olga’s Cup & Saucer, Pat’s Pastured Poultry, Red Planet Vegetables, Scratch Farm, Seven Stars Bakery, Simmons Farm, The Good Earth Organic Gardening, Whispering Elms Farm, Wishing Stone Farm, Zephyr Farm.
I’m Carla’s big brother. Just for the record.
But Carla, it’s literally right at the end of my street! Just got back and I can tell you that there’s about ten times the space of AS220, and there are all sorts of resident businesses in there that are cross-sharing business with the farmer’s market.
I just got bread, cheese, and produce for the week -and- ordered a toner cartridge for my obscure printer. Neat!
Anyone planning on going who’s a friend of Carla would be welcome to swing by my place for coffee afterwards, just message me at marc@doughtyhouse.com .
With the current real estate situation, I’ve actually heard second hand about in-city developers considering converting mills into some kinda greenhouses.
Oh, yeah, and that Eastside Eden greenhouse is vacant again, as well. That place is pretty big and already, well, a greenhouse.
It’d be like Providence’s own miniature Reading Terminal Market. I wish!
I understand completely 🙂 I love and support my farmers and farmers markets with all my heart.
wouldn’t it be great to see the Arcade as a year-round farmers market?
that fantasy just popped into my head.
AS220 was a great location, we all loved it, but it was too small to accommodate the expansion needed for the second year.
Farmers’ markets are about bringing good, healthy food to people. But farmers’ markets are also the most important site for the business of a small-acreage farm. RI farmers have long struggled to make ends meet with rising land costs and a cheapened food system (thanks to subsidies from the federal gov’t and a move towards industrial agriculture). Farmers’ markets are one of the only places where farmers can make a direct sale to a customer (without a fee from a distributor or grocery store) at the retail price. Wholesale purchases from chefs, grocery stores, and schools are important to RI farmers as well, but these amazing folks need all the help they can get. That’s why farmers’ markets are so rad.
When considering all these factors, farmers’ market managers have to find a place that is good for both the farmers and the customers. The Winter Market in particular is difficult because we have to find a large, affordable site that would be available for a few hours every Saturday. AS220 was really great, but when Farm Fresh RI found itself with dozens more local farmers and producers who wanted to invest the time, energy, and in some cases, greenhouse technology, to grow food in the winter for all of us, a new location was absolutely in order to help these folks expand their businesses to a year-round operation. It is also important to note that a Winter Market provides these people with income during the winter, which was simply not happening before.
Much has been discussed all around town about this market. As outlined above, there are so many factors that contribute to the planning and implementation of a farmers’ market. We searched high and low for a good location, and this one was the best.
FYI, Hope Artiste is really easy to get to, especially by bus.
Many thanks to AS220 for all of their support last year. We’re stoked for the new season at Hope Artiste Village and hope that everyone will join us.
it’s in the hopeeeee artisteeeeee villageeeee this year?
bummer.
AS220 was such a great central location.