The Last (Farmers Market) Roundup of 2023
I'm glad my mama raised me to like root vegetables, greens and apples
It’s Been Real
My morning visit Saturday (December 16) to Green City’s indoor market was my last market trip of 2023. Maybe next year I’ll do better at keeping track of how many market visits I make; for this year, let’s just say a lot.
My final haul (from left) consisted of onions, sweet potatoes, Yukon gold potatoes, Frostbite apples and Carnival winter squash from Nichols Farm and Orchard (Marengo, Illinois), a pie pumpkin (intended for soup) from Smits Farms (Chicago Heights, Illinois), kale from Wholesome Harvest (Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin), and ground beef and sausages (bratwurst and Italian) from Finn’s Ranch (Buchanan, Michigan).
I wish all of my friends in the farmers market community a happy holiday season. I look forward to starting all over again in January.
Help Us Break 1,000
As of this writing, Local Food Forum has a total of 975 subscribers (combined paid and free). I’m pretty proud of this, given that I haven’t had a dime to spend on marketing, so this is all word of mouth. And that number is close to a 50 percent increase since the beginning of the year.
It would be such a boost to break 1,000 subscribers before the new year starts. And while of course I’d surely be grateful for additional paid subscriptions, in this case that’s not the point. Paid or free, they all count.
We are making plans for 2024 to be a giant leap forward for Local Food Forum. The website launched in September is being redesigned and will be relaunched soon (it’s a long story that has to do with search engine optimization). We will be introducing exciting new programming, and working even harder to stimulate more community engagement (it’s called Forum for a reason).
Hopefully we’ll be able to look back a year from now and laugh about when we thought 1,000 subscribers was awesome. But for now, it really would be awesome. So please sign up if you haven’t already, and please tell your friends who support our shared goal of a better food system.
This Weekend’s Illinois Indoor Market Schedule
The indoor market schedule for this weekend is slim, with most markets either taking the week off for the holiday or in their regular off weeks. If you’re near one of the markets that are opening for last-minute Christmas dinner shopping, lucky you… don’t miss your chance to get the best for your holiday table.
The Illinois Farmers Market Association has a winter market schedule that has more detail. Click here to check it out.
Friday, December 22
St. Charles Farmers Market, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Baker Memorial Church, 307 Cedar Ave.
Saturday, December 23
Batavia Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., The Dock at 150 First Street
Carbondale Community Farmers Market, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., University Mall
Downtown Bloomington Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., 101 S. Madison St.
Mount Pleasant Indoor Winter Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., 200 S. Willie
Twin City Farmers Market, 8 a.m. to 12 p.m., 106 Avenue A, Sterling
Woodstock Farmers Market, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., McHenry County Fairgrounds
Sunday, December 24
Buffalo Grove Indoor Winter Market, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., 2900 N. Main St.
Market at L&A Healing Studio, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., 2018 S. Michigan Ave., Chicago
Bob’s World, and Welcome to It
Another lovely sunrise that took place on Friday (December 15). I sure hope the skies will be this clear on this Friday, the first full day of the winter solstice, when the sun will be its farthest south in the skies before heading back north toward spring.
Thank you for your coverage this year of our local food landscape. I look forward to more news in 2024. Wishing you a happy New Year!