It’s finally Farmers Market season. Every Saturday from July 5 to Oct. 11, vendors selling fruits, veggies, meats, crafts, and so much more will be on the corner of Sixth Street and Ross Avenue in Alamosa. It’s Alamosa’s 45th Farmers Market season.
“We’re one of the oldest farmers markets in the state of Colorado,” said Mandy Pittman, director of the farmers market. “Which is a pretty big feat because we’re such an agricultural state.”
The market is open from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., meaning there’s plenty of time to peruse.
“You can get up on Saturday morning, you can come downtown and grab a coffee – there’s many options available – and then you can walk over to the market or you can come straight to us. It’s such a great way to start your day.”
The farmers markets are low-key and people are pretty happy to be there. There will be free crafts for kids and live music.
“We’re lucky in the Valley that there’s so many opportunities for free live music, but we’re happy to be one of those opportunities for local musicians to be able to showcase their talents in the Valley, as well. It’s just a nice way to start your Saturday and get your weekend going with some good stuff,” Pittman said.
Throughout the season performers such as The Rivertown Folk, Palmas, Jenni Mansfield Peal, The Celtic Knots, and Company of Friends will perform at the market.
“It’s a good mix this year of returning performers and new performers to the market.”
Once the food trucks get to cooking and the green chile is roasted, the wonderful smell draws people for miles around.
Peaches and stone fruit from around Colorado will start to make their way to Alamosa in a few weeks. Apples from New Mexico will be abundant. Peas and fresh garlic, leafy greens, honey, eggs and other local foods line the vendor stalls, providing an array of fresh greens for shoppers.
The 40th year of the market could not be truly celebrated because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but this year Pittman hopes to really shine a light on the vendors and farmers and the work they put in and “share the wonderful experience that it is to shop with them. And to have these people that have been at the market for, some of them it’s their first year, some of them have been coming for years, like over a decade or more.”
“Cash is still king” when it comes to shopping at the farmers market on a Saturday morning, but those with credit and debit cards and Apple Pay will be able to purchase items and food. Also, customers who use food incentive programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, and Electronic Benefits Transfer, EBT, will be able to purchase food and produce.
“The bonus of shopping at our market as compared to City Market or Walmart or Safeway, is that we are participating in the Double Up Food Bucks program.”
Double Up Food Bucks Colorado is a program that allows customers who use SNAP and EBT to receive a dollar-for-dollar match in vouchers for their SNAP purchases. These vouchers can be used to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, dried beans, or food-producing seeds or plants at farmers markets all over Colorado.
This program will also be available at the Rio Grande Farm Park’s Mercado, as well.
“It really allows you to maximize your food incentives,” Pittman said. “You can take money that is already tight, because food incentives, they cover some things, but often it’s not quite enough to cover all you need. So we’re able to really maximize that.”
Shopping at a farmers market is different than shopping at a big box store. It’s a collaborative place. Pittman said she’s learned garlic growing techniques from one of the vendors and the culture of collaboration thrives because of shared food and shared knowledge.
Shopping under the sun with the community is perhaps how it’s meant to be. With dirt still on vegetables and being able to shake hands with the person who canned the honey makes all the difference in the world.
“And it really is a great opportunity to improve health and wellness for our community,” Pittman said.
