By Himanee Gupta-Carlson
Eggs and ham sizzling; vendors in flannel cupping cups of coffee; a ribbon cutting and the clang of a bell. These sights, smells, and sounds are markers of the Saratoga Farmers’ Market outdoor season at High Rock Park.
The market celebrates the start of its outdoor season at 9 a.m. Saturday, with a short step back to the past: acknowledgment of a City of Saratoga Springs commemorating the market’s 40th anniversary, welcomes from Mayor Meg Kelly and State Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner, and introductions of some of the market’s original vendors.
Then the ribbon will be cut and the season will begin.
Going outdoors for farmers, home food producers, and other local creators of artisanal foods and crafts is like a seasonal ritual, transitioning the farming cycle away from the stored foods of winter and moving toward the new growth of spring and bounty of summer and fall.
“Farmers feed us,” says Anna Mae Clark, one of the market’s original vendors. “That’s something people sometimes forget.”
The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is about feeding the body as well as the senses. The market is a producer-only market that ensures at least 70 percent of its vendors will be purely agricultural while also creating space for other local businesses to thrive.
The result is a community fest every Saturday morning and Wednesday afternoons that involves eating alongside entertainment and education about living in sync with the seasons.
This week, check out the big bags of spinach from Owl Wood Farm, $1 off. Visit Grandma Apple’s Cheesecakes and pick up two individual sized cheesecakes for $8, or $4.50 for one. And for your garden stop by Scotch Ridge Berry Farm, which will be among the vendors offering vegetable starts.
The market will have community tables and a free children’s activity as it does every week. Running the River will perform, as it does on the first Saturday of each month, helping to make music also a market staple.
“Knowing other is a means of helping one another when possible or when necessity occurs,” says Clark. “May we see 50 years, then 75 years and 100 years of operating as a farmers’ market.”
The Saratoga Farmers’ Market is 3-6 p.m. Wednesdays and 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays at High Rock Park. Look for us on the new FreshFoodNY app. For volunteer opportunities, contact friends@saratogafarmersmarket.org.
