By Julia Howard
As days grow shorter and colder, the Saratoga Farmers’ Market is grateful to take up our indoor home in the Wilton Mall this Saturday, November 5, from 9:30 am to 1:30 pm, where it will take place weekly until the end of April. This location offers the convenience of one-stop shopping for various products, ample parking, and convenient restrooms. The Wilton Mall’s food court area, with its luminous skylights, provides much-needed warmth for vendors and shoppers alike.
Over forty Saratoga-area farms and businesses will sell a bounty of locally grown and produced items, including fruit and vegetables, meat and poultry, bread and baked goods, artisan cheese, yogurt, milk, and honey, ready-to-eat foods, handmade art, clothing, and wellness products. Market-goers will see many familiar faces from High Rock Park.
In addition, the Saratoga Farmers’ Market will introduce several Holiday Boutique Market artisans and crafters offering various giftable items just in time for the holiday shopping season.
New vendors this season include Trendy Empress Boutique bringing comfortable, handmade clothing for children and babies. And King Creek Farms will bring pasture-raised poultry and free-range eggs to the farmers’ market.
As Thanksgiving approaches, customers can preorder holiday meats, stock up on fresh produce for sides, and find plenty of dessert options. Hepatica Farm and King Creek Farm will offer pasture-raised turkey this season, and they are currently taking reservations.
Family activities and market events will be festive and exciting this season. Farmers’ market staff and community organizations will offer weekly themed activities for kids of all ages and abilities. This year, Christmas and New Year’s Eve will fall on Saturdays, and local farms and producers guarantee the freshest ingredients for your holiday feasts. The farmers’ market also looks forward to special markets for Valentine’s Day, March Maple Days, and Easter in 2023.
Customers can rely on the market’s regular nutrition assistance programs as we embrace the season’s newness. Customers who own an EBT card can exchange their SNAP benefits for farmers’ market tokens to purchase fresh foods. Additionally, the market offers FreshConnect, a SNAP incentive program where every $5 a customer spends with their EBT benefits; they receive a $2 FreshConnect coupon to spend at the farmers’ market. The Capital District Physicians’ Health Plan and Greenwich-based Comfort Food Community will continue bringing $5 vouchers to CDPHP members at select farmers’ markets.
The market bell will ring this Saturday at 9:30 am, beginning a new season. There will be live music by Kate Blain as well as special guests. Bring your shopping bags and your family or friends, and enjoy the tradition of shopping locally.
The Saratoga Farmers’ Market will be open on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. from November through April. The market will be in the Wilton Mall Food Court, accessible from the TrustCo mall entrance, across from BJs, or the mall interior. The CDTA’s 450 (from Schenectady) and 452 (from Skidmore College via downtown Saratoga) run to the Wilton Mall at least once an hour on Saturday mornings. Find us online at www.saratogafarmersmarket.org, where you can sign up for our weekly newsletter and follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
