Local Harvest: Marietta Farmers Market
Marietta Farmers Market
This past Memorial Day weekend we kicked off the first part of our Local Harvest Series. Through out the year we are going to focus on what’s in season to purchase and ways to explore local resources. We visited the Marietta Farmers Market located in the historic Marietta Square in Georgia.
The Marietta Farmer’s Market is one of the more popular outdoor markets in the metro Atlanta area. They are open year round and typically feature over 60 vendors. The market’s location in the historic Marietta Square offers additional shopping in the form of antiques shops, local eateries, gifts, and museums . Plus, there is a giant fountain and train in the “square” for the kiddies to play with while mom and dad rest in the shade.
There were plenty of vendors present this past weekend. There were vendors selling yard art, hand crafted soaps, artisan breads and pastries, bedding and vegetable plants, free range meats and organic cheeses, and of course, fresh produce! Below is a collage of some of the pictures I took. It was hard for me to narrow it down to the few in the collage, but I managed 🙂
An advantage of living in the South is our long growing season. At the Marietta Farmer’s Market, I saw spring fruits and veggies like strawberries, lettuce, and radishes, and winter root veggies like carrots and onions. The vendors come from all over Georgia. It was nice to see so much variety. The market’s atmosphere was lively and friendly and the prices were reasonable. Most of the vendors were small scale farmers, businesses, and home gardeners.
Here’s some tips to make your visit easier:
- Bring Cash. I did not see many vendors who took plastic.
- Go Early. I showed up at 10 and it was packed.
- Parking is free on the side streets and in the County Parking Decks.
- Market Hours: Saturday 9 am to 12 pm January – December and Sunday 12 pm to 3 pm April – November.
Now for the best part, my purchases!
The strawberries were my most expensive purchase at $5 a quart. But it was well worth the cost. Someday when I invent scratch and sniff internet, then you can experience the delicious aroma of these berries. The strawberries were sold by Mercier Orchards from Blue Ridge, GA. They had a HUGE line and they sold out very early.
Again, I wish you could smell these melons! These cantaloupes were $2 each and perfectly ripe. Notice there is barely any green?? Try to find that in a grocery store!
I got three heads of leaf lettuce and a bunch of Chinese flowering cabbage, total price was $5. I think the lettuce was$3 and the cabbage $2. The vendor was super busy and I didn’t bother to ask for a break down.
This is only half of the bread! The vendor was selling the loaves for buy one, get one free. It was for the “not so perfect loaves”. What?! They looked great to me! I got 10 loaves of multi-grain bread for $5.
And some additions to my garden…succulents for a rock garden. These ran $3 each. The vendor had a bunch of different varieties and they all looked healthy!
The best buy I found at the Marietta Farmer’s Marker was Coffee! It was destiny. We parked in front of the cute little shop called the Local Exchange. My oldest son had to use the bathroom and the nice, young man setting up a coffee station directed me to the nearest public restroom. When were we done shopping at the market, dripping with sweat and tired, we passed by that little coffee station again. I had no intention of drinking a hot beverage, but that fresh coffee smell was unbelievable!
I made Mark go and get us a cup while I strapped the boys in to the van.
Mark brought back two freshly, hand pour brewed cups of coffee and informed be that they were free. They were sampling their coffee for the day to drive traffic into the store. Now, I am a cream and sugar in my coffee kind of girl, and I drank this coffee black. It was smooth and not a hint of any bitterness! A special shout out to Rev Coffee, local coffee roasters out of Smyrna, GA. Thank you for the awesome coffee, for teaching us the art of hand pour brewing, and for kindly directing me to the nearest potty. I am definitely a new Revvie!
To find a local Farmers Market near you, check out Local Harvest. Hopefully, this has convinced you to check out the local farmer’s markets in your area this year!