It’s Grow Time

The best time of year for local food is upon us again in Washtenaw County: farmer’s market season! The first week of May will see most of our local farmer’s markets opening again, with the Downtown Ypsilanti Farmer’s Market opening on May 1, the Ann Arbor Wednesday Market opening May 2 and the Ypsilanti Depot Town Market opening May 5. There’s lots of exciting developments this year as well, including earlier start dates, new vendors and even some brand-new markets!

One such new market is the Mix Marketplace in Downtown Ypsilanti. Although Mix Market started primarily as a winter market for artisanal food producers and crafters last November, Mix Market will now be open on Fridays and Saturdays year-round. In addition to the regular host of people selling vintage items, honey, eggs, baked goods and produce, Mix Market will also feature foods made on-site by Bona Sera, the underground Ann Arbor supper club turned above-ground Ypsilanti cafe.

photo by Stefanie Stauffer

Another brand new market in the Ypsilanti area this season is the Dixboro Farmer’s Market, happening Fridays in Downtown Dixboro. The Dixboro market starts May 18 and will feature fantastic local products like “Dick’s Pretty Good Garlic” from the Dyer Family Organic Farm. As for newer markets in Ann Arbor, the Wednesday Evening Market is gearing up to kick off its second (extended) season on May 15 with produce, prepared foods and the return of the beer garden.

As for new vendors, since we live in the local food hub that is SE Michigan, there’s way too many new farms, CSAs and Cottage Food producers to mention here. What a great problem to have! This year there’s a lot of young farmers joining the ranks of local food producers in both Ypsi and Ann Arbor, whether independently, cooperatively or through the Tillian Farm Development Center that recently added two farms to its incubator roster.

However, for me the most inspiring new market vendor, or vendors, is the Ypsilanti Grower’s Cooperative (YGC) at the Downtown Ypsilanti Farmer’s Market. An urban growers’ co-op launched by local folks wanting to sell sustainably-grown surplus from their backyard gardens, the YGC will have items grown literally within blocks of the market. You can’t get much more local than that. Plus, if you have some extra produce of your own, you can even join the co-op. If you’re interested, contact Eva at growinghope.net.

And, in case you were wondering, Nightshade Army Industries will be back with all the Ypsi-Grown, Ypsi-Made hot sauce and salsa you can handle starting around July 15. Until then, I’ll see you at one of these markets…