To market, to market, to buy a fat pig--or a fat eggplant, or locally-grown basil plus a lemon with a few hundred miles on it, or a breakfast hot dog. Whatever your errand, the farmers markets of the Twin Cities will soon be offering up their treasures. Each market has its own personality-- its own strengths, specialties, and customs. Our Farmers Market guide will help you find your way to the spot that best suits your tastes--and your shopping list.
Minneapolis Farmers Market This is the giant, the biggie, the place where aimless weekend tourists clog the path of errand-running moms with double strollers who clog the path of immigrant families buying vegetables so exotic that decades-long Midwestern vegetarians would have no idea how to cook with them. The Minneapolis Farmers Market is the great melting pot, a place where sightseeing and commerce are impossible to separate.
Besides produce from local farmers, there are vendors selling bananas, grapes, lemons, and limes out of the boxes they were trucked in. That means one less trip to the conventional grocery store for you, the shopper. Following the delicious smell or the hawker's yell to a brat and a lemonade is a Minneapolis rite of passage.
The market includes an Annex, featuring a globe-spanning wealth of crafts and gifts. Right now, this is the place for bedding plants, local meats, products like baked goods, wild rice, and honey. It's only open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, but as the season progresses, it switches to a seven-day-a-week schedule.
Mill City Farmers Market Opening May 8th, the Mill City Farmers market is a young upstart in the biz, and dare we say, a game-changer. This Saturday-morning-only market is held in downtown Minneapolis, between the Mill City Museum and the Guthrie Theater. Guided by local restaurateur Brenda Langton, of Cafe Brenda and Spoonriver, the market showcases organic and sustainable products, made by local farmers and artisans. It also hosts the beloved Chef Shack, a mobile kitchen where people in the know line up ten deep for bison burgers, donut holes, beef tongue tacos, and--new this year--falafel.
This is the place for local lamb, chicken, trout, cheese, chocolate, a dozen different kinds of garlic at one stand, a savory goat-cheese-and-onion tart at the next. And there's no better place to watch your fellow marketers than perched on the steps built into the side of the Guthrie, on the banks of the Mississippi.
St. Paul Farmers Market This Saturday and Sunday market in downtown St. Paul's Lowertown has a purist attitude towards its wares. This is the market that says, "Why should we sell crafts? We are a farmers market, goshdarn it." If you buy a tomato here, you will not have to worry about its carbon footprint, as all the produce at the St. Paul Farmers Market is local produce. And you don't have to worry that you won't get a delicious bagel sandwich here, because they have the most delicious bagel sandwiches here--as well as salsas, pastas, meats, cheeses, and every flower, fruit, and veggie that grows in a Midwestern greenhouse or under a Midwestern blue sky. Check their website for a long list of satellite markets held during the week in suburbs of both St. Paul and Minneapolis.
Your Neighborhood MarketYou don't have to deal with the crowds and parking hassles of the Big Three just to make a ratatouille with a local provenance. There are mini-markets blooming all over the Twin Cities, where you can swoop in and buy armfuls of dirt-cheap basil on your way home from a garage sale.
Northeast --Opens in June. Saturdays, 9 am-1 pm. A low-key place to grab salad fixings, coffee, and catch up with your neighbors.
Midtown --Saturdays 8 am- 1pm initially, with a Tuesday night market added in July. This stop off the Hiawatha Light Rail Line is the only market that takes credit cards, through an innovative program that allows you to charge wooden Midtown Market tokens, which you can then use at vendors. All the produce comes from either Minnesota or Wisconsin, and as an added bonus, this is the place where you can find some of the best crepes in town.
Kingfield--Besides goodies and veggies, this Sunday morning market is blessed by live music and the presence of visit the aforementioned, awesome Chef Shack.
Uptown Market--The newest market in the Twin Cities, this is a fantastic showcase of all of the great artisans in the Twin Cities, from jewelry makers to food vendors to fine artists, and more. Less a farmers market per se than a market of all things local, the Uptown market still features great goodies and food. It opens in summer and runs every Sunday from 11am-5pm.
IATP Local Food Mini Markets --This project helps connect low-income families with the fresh, healthy food they might not be able to access unless it was available in their neighborhoods. The 2010 locations have yet to be finalized, but the IATP anticipates that this year, they will be able to accept WIC vouchers.