Saturday Morning

Hangin’ at the Downtown Farmers’ Market

By Alan Kleinfeld, 7-28-06

A new exercise for us on Saturday mornings is strolling down the street to 8th and Central and partaking in a tradition as old as The Partridge Family. Farmers Markets have been in Albuquerque and New Mexico for as long as there have been farmers, but I only recently discovered them. Lucky for me, there’s one within walking distance of my house. Now Saturday morning is a time to stroll through the park, look at the arts and crafts, grab a locally made and very fresh chocolate-filled croissant and scope out the homegrown goodies.

Most of the food venders offer fresh vegetables and herbs, anything from zucchini and squash to Swiss chard and beets. Fresh basil, dill and other green smelling items can be found, too. But it’s not just about the vegetables anymore. There are also a variety of arts and crafts for sale, too, such as paintings, homemade face creams, fragrant soaps, and pottery.

As the season changes, so does the selection. Soon, fruits should be available. So far, I’ve only found cherries and apricots, but I have my fingers crossed that I’ll soon be able to pick up some fresh watermelon and peaches. Plus, there’s honey, jams, flowers, baked goods, pinon nuts and, at one table, organic doggie biscuits. Uh, okay then.

I don’t know for a fact how farmers markets started. I picture it as something that happened in and around small towns as a way for local growers to sell their harvests that grocery stores wouldn’t buy and as a way for local residents with little money to get fresh food at a cost that was less than the groceries would offer. I don’t even know if it’s Farmers Market, Farmer’s Market or Farmers’ Market. Each web site I visited had different punctuation.

The Santa Fe Farmers Market started in the late 1960s and has grown to the largest in the state, according to itswebsite. If you visit NM Farmers' Market online listing you see a list of all of the farmers markets in the state and may find one close to your home. Albuquerque alone has eight and there are another 36 across the state, from Farmington to Carlsbad, from Silver City to Tucumcari.

Surprisingly, not everything at the farmers market is cheap. I think it’s become somewhat of a liberal/yuppie hang out, so there are lots of purebred dogs, couples with kids in strollers, shiny Land Rovers and bee pollen in tiny Ziploc baggies for $5. If you’re not careful, you’re fresh veggies, raspberry jam and homemade soap may end up costing you more than just a quick run to Raley’s. But then you’re not in the park, in the fresh outdoors with Fido and the two and a half kids, socializing with the vendors as they try to sell their wares.

Some of the websites I visited indicate that there are rules and regulations for being a vendor at a farmers market to make sure everything is locally grown and sold by the person that grew it. But at the market I’ve been going to, I sometimes get the feeling that the small box of cherries I just paid three dollars for was actually purchased at Smith’s on the Westside and sold to me like stolen Gucci purses out of the back of someone’s car.

I guess it doesn’t matter. The cherries still taste good. And I still get to feel as if I’m part of the community. And that might be the point of the farmers market. It may not be what you’re buying, but the fact that you’re buying it from your neighbor. Besides, neighbor or not, those chocolate-filled croissants are delicious.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.