Saratoga Farmers’ Market Celebrates Last Gasp of Summer

By Julia Howard, Market Administrator

October is inching toward November. At the Saratoga Farmers’ Market, this means that we are preparing for our annual transition, from outside to in. Join us tomorrow from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at High Rock Park for our final celebration of summer and our last outdoor market.

What’s fresh in late October? Still ripening tomatoes, crisp salad greens and frost-sweetened kales, freshly dug sweet potatoes, carrots, beets, radishes, turnips, our amazing seasonal pumpkins and an array of other winter squashes, cups of warm apple cider and, as midday temperatures creep toward the high sixties, iced lemonade.

The market also will be participating in the Saratoga Springs’ Downtown Business Association’s annual Fall Festival. We will feature music from Four Old Guys and Er Go Blue and a free fall wreath-making activity for children of all ages. We also will announce the winner of our annual Guess the Weight of the Pumpkin contest at 10 a.m.

We also are looking forward to our fifth winter season at the Lincoln Baths Building in the Saratoga Spa State Park, which begins next Saturday, Nov. 4. As tomorrow’s market ends, we will pack up our summer signs and shut down the market shed. When you visit us next Saturday, you will find us under not open-air tents but in a bazaar-like atmosphere indoors.

Our winter market features many of our summer vendors, thanks to farmers who make use of greenhouses, high tunnels, and state-of-the-art storage technologies to grow and maintain a high level of quality local produce year-round. We also will be holding our seasonal holiday home arts and crafts bazaar.

While we love the summer market, we relish our November through April time indoors, too. For many of our vendors, the winter market offers a cozy, intimate space for farmers and shoppers to get to know each other better. Winter is a great time to ask your favorite farmer questions about their farms. Winter also is an opportunity to stockpile recipes and other food preparation tips.

The Saratoga Farmers’ Market ends its summer season tomorrow at High Rock Park. The market moves indoors to the Lincoln Baths Building at the Saratoga Spa State Park on November 4, where it will take place from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday through April. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.