When you say the words “farmers market” to many people, it still conjures up an image of men in jeans (possibly bib overalls), flannel work shirts, and straw hats standing behind various pint and quart bins of produce. It’s an old-fashioned picture postcard image whose origins are nebulous at best (and fairly inaccurate in most parts of the US nowadays). However, farmers markets have made a huge resurgence recently across the country, with more and more emphasis being placed on the idea of eating locally for ecological and economical reasons alike. Today’s farmers markets tend to prove to be incongruous with the holdover image of rows of cookie-cutter Rockwellian farmers, in that they offer much more than just farm-fresh produce. One of the pioneers in the bustling nouveau farmers market has been in continual operation here in Ithaca since 1973 from April through December.

As we enter the heart of summer, on any Saturday morning, you can find me at the Farmers Market – it’s a sort of Saturday morning ritual for my wife and I. We get up, get ready and head straight to the Farmers Market, without coffee, without breakfast, without anything of the normal routine. To the neophyte, parking may seem a daunting task (due to the extreme popularity of the market), but fear not – with so many spaces among multiple rows of parking, you are sure to find a spot (but don’t rule out walking – it’s not far from the downtown and Ithaca’s a pretty walker-friendly town). As ever, my first priority is to find coffee, which is easy enough to do, with many booths offering coffee, including a Gimme! Coffee booth (a local roaster and favorite). Immediately after sating my most dire needs, we begin the slow and difficult process of choosing a vendor for breakfast – there are so many talented bakers and delicious eateries that it makes the decision that much harder, so we generally buy a few things from a few places. We take our delicious bounty down by the Cayuga Lake Inlet and have a nice, quiet breakfast while watching the water (and sometimes our fellow patrons).

A lovely bunch of radishes.

Now that breakfast is out of the way (for now), we begin our first loop around the market, perusing (ogling) the produce that is on display, that way we know what we want and in which booth did it look best. In all honesty, this decision is difficult as well, because the prices are reasonable and all the produce looks fantastic. My wife and I are avid gardeners, and we have some beautiful produce in our own back yard, but we still come to the market to supplement what we have the space to grow at home…and many of the plants that we have in the ground were purchased as wee seedlings from growers at the market: flowers, herbs and veggies. One thing that we do not have the ability to produce on our own is fresh meats – and there are several vendors that have great cuts of meat, farm-fresh (or frozen), available from a single chop to half a cow (or goat, or lamb, or chicken). Visiting the Farmer’s Market is akin to living on a farm, without nearly so much work!

But wait, there’s more! The Ithaca Farmers Market has much more than just fresh and prepared food – there’s crafters and artisans galore, too. Woodworkers, artists, wineries, candlemakers, soapmakers, jewelers, furniture and hammocks, musicians and special events – it’s all there for your (and my) enjoyment, every weekend (and Tuesdays, too). Even if you’re only in town for a short time, the Ithaca Farmers Market is well worth your time for the food, the fresh air, all the fantastic artisanal goods and the fun.

To visit the Ithaca Farmers Market website, click here.