OPENING DAY !!!!!!

OPENING DAY FOR THE BURLINGTON FARMERS MARKET SET FOR MAY 8TH

COME JOIN US FOR FOOD, CRAFTS, MUSIC AND SOCIALIZING. WE ALL LOVE THE ATMOSPHERE THAT THE MARKET BRINGS TO CITY HALL PARK SO COME BE A PART OF IT.

THE MARKET STARTS AT 8:30 AND RUNS TO 2:00. THIS SATURDAY WE WELCOME GOLD TOWN AND THEIR TRADITIONAL VERMONT BLUEGRASS AS WELL AS THE MORRIS DANCERS.

THIS SEASON THE MARKET IS PACKED WITH OVER 62 VENDORS OFFERING UP PRODUCE, MEATS, CHEESES, MAPLE SYRUP, HONEY, WINE, CRAFTS AND ETHNIC CUISINE.

ANY QUESTIONS GIVE US A CALL: 802.310.5172

Summer Farmers Market

BURLINGTON SUMMER FARMERS MARKET

Greetings!! I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about and invite you to the Burlington Summer Farmers Market. This is the 30th year for the market and we are grateful for the community support. The market is a great opportunity to showcase all that Burlington has to offer, 60 vendors set up every Saturday from the second Saturday in May till the last Saturday in October in City Hall Park. We have a wide range of products from farmers selling preserves and fresh vegetables, fruits, fresh meats, cheeses, maple syrup, honey and eggs. We have wineries offering a variety of local wines.
We have ethnic foods utilizing local ingredients and we have crafters selling everything from jewelry, handcrafted metal products,
pottery and children’s clothing

The hours for the market are 8:30am to 2pm, it is held in City Hall Park on the corner of St Paul Street and College Street in downtown Burlington.

Dates for the 2010 Summer Season are May 8th to October 30th.

Live music and dance create the perfect atmosphere for lunch and stocking up for the week. Check us out on Facebook for market updates and cool pics.

Craft Vendors at the Winter Market

SPECIAL SHOUT-OUT TO THE CRAFT VENDORS
AT THE BURLINGTON FARMERS MARKET

Although the Burlington Farmers Market is primarily an Agriculture Market, I wanted to take a minute and let you know that we have some of the best crafters and artist in the area. These artist offer up everything you could think of for upcoming weddings, graduations, Mother’s Day, anniversaries and birthdays. Stop by this Saturday the 17th from 10-2 at Memorial Auditorium and pick up gifts for that special person.
Here’s a list of our amazing artist:

Rooftop Pottery – Harold Kaplan
Happy Fantastic Design – Joanne Kalisz
Sweet Flower Designs – Wendy Faulkner
Recycle Moe – Maureen O’Hara
Bee Happy VT – Pedro Salas
Pine Ledge Fiber Studio – Joanne Littler
Pleasant Valley Soap Co. – John & Carole Doherty
Great Photographic Art of VT – Jonathan Hart
J. Wagner Designs – Jen Wagner
SylvieL – Sylvie Leclerc-Shafer

Many thanks to all of them for adding that extra touch to the market!!

Spring Time for the Market

SPRING HAS SPRUNG FOR THE BURLINGTON FARMERS’ MARKET

Saturday is going to be a gorgeous day for Burlington. How about a nice walk or drive down to the Farmers Market? We are still calling it the Winter Market but it feels like spring. Come down to meet up with friends, listen to some great music, enjoy lunch and sweet treats and stock your fridge for the week with local produce, meats and cheeses.

Join us at Memorial Auditorium between 10 and 2. Don’t forget the market accepts EBT cards as well as debit cards, just stop by the manager’s table. Please take a minute to fill out a brief survey for the market. We are wrapping up our second season and are really interested in customer feedback.
Surveys can be found on the tables near the stage.

BURLINGTON WINTER FARMERS MARKET

Greetings!! I wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about and invite you to the Burlington Winter Farmers Market. This is the second year for the market and we love all the community support. The market is a great opportunity to showcase all that Burlington has to offer, 58 vendors will be setting up every third Saturday of the month from November to April in Memorial Auditorium. We have a wide range of products from farmers selling preserves and frozen vegetables, root vegetables, fresh meats, cheeses, maple syrup, honey and eggs. We have wineries offering a variety of local wines. We have prepared foods including your favorites from the Summer Market and we have crafters selling everything from jewelry, a variety of clothing to pottery and photographic art.

The hours for the market are 10am to 2pm, it is held in Memorial Auditorium at the corner of Main Street and South Union in downtown Burlington. Every third Saturday of the month from November to April: (11/21; 12/19; 1/16; 2/20; 3/20; 4/18)

Below is a list of our vendors for the 2009-2010 season:

AH Mushrooms & Plants
Amai Bijoux
The Bakery at Farmhouse Kitchen
Arethusa Collective Farm
Bee Happy VT
The Nomadic Oven
Bread & Butter Farm
Champlain Orchards
Doe’s Leap
Dragonfly Sugarworks
Happy Fantastic Design
East Shore Vineyards
Flower Power VT
Claude Lehman Pottery
Fresh Tracks Farm
Full Moon Farm
Painted Tulip Flower Farm
Got Local Kitchens
Green Mountain Granola
Tibetan Cuisine
Honey Gardens Apiaries
Jericho Settler’s Farm
Tangletown Farm
Lewis Creek Farm
Maple Wind Farm
Sylviel
McGurran Bee Farm
Naga Bakehouse
Sheppard’s Crook Farm
Pine Ledge Fiber Studio
Pleasant Valley Soap Co
Rookie’s Rootbeer
Rooftop Pottery
Samosaman Natural Foods
Recycle Moe
Shelburne Farms
Stray Cat Flower Farm
Neshobe River Winery
Sunny Brook Maple
Sweet Flower Designs
Orsini BBQ
Tamale Girl
Tamarack Hollow
Great Photographic Art of VT
The Nutty Vermonter
a la Lindsay
Dinky Donuts
Bella Farm
Benito’s Hot Sauce
Digger’s Mirth Collective Farm
Botanical Bodycare
Crawford Family Farm
Deeter’s Bakery
River Berry FArm
Willow Hill Farm
J Wagner Designs

Hope to see you there!!!!

Summer Market

Hello All,

The Burlington Farmers Market Summer edition is in full swing. After a few rainy Saturday's we have had some great weather recently. We are offering all your favorite vendors with some strategically placed Day Vendors this year. These Day Vendors will be moving around and will not always be there, so please feel free to stop by and ask me about them and when they will be back. The Farmers Market would also love your support in a contest to Vote for your Favorite Farmers Market. Check out the website:

www.care2.com/farmersmarket

Local Harvest is sponsoring this contest and would appreciate your vote.

Thanks for all your support and see you at the market.

Chris

Last Winter Market

Hello Friends of the Market,

The last Winter Market is upon us. I wanted to take a minute and thank the community for coming out and really making this first winter season a huge success for the market. We learned a lot about what sells and what doesn't. When the busy times are and the factors that keep people away and what the customers want to see. I really appreciate all the feedback. If anyone would like to share their thoughts on this past season please let me know.

Again thank you for everything and I hope to see you at the last market on April 18th.

Chris

Agreement Reached!!!!

The Burlington Farmers Market is happy to announce that an agreement has been reached with the Burlington Department of Parks & Recreation. The membership of the market voted last Thursday to approve the proposal put forth by the Department of Parks & Recreation, and the Parks & Recreation Commission approved the proposal worked out between the Director, Wayne Gross and the Market Representatives. A three year contract will be signed soon. The Market would like to personally thank Wayne Gross and Mayor Bob Kiss for all their help in negotiating the rent and services. This event became highly publicized and we wanted to thank everyone who came out in support of the market.

BFM Rent Increase

Even the local Farmers' Market isn't immune to the economic crunch we are all feeling. The summer edition of the Burlington Farmers' Market is in the middle of negotiations with the City of Burlington and is being faced with a rent increase that is staggering to the membership. The Burlington Farmers' Market, and markets around the state, have generally had a reduced rate on rent, or none paid at all, that shows the support from the community and the City that host the market. Entering into this year's negotiations, the Market knew that our rent would be increased due to the size and success of the Market. What we were presented with was a 4 1/2 times rent increase, resulting in our rent, which is paid to the Department of Parks & Recreation, equaling $16,640 for one season. Our previous rent was $3600 for one season. This amount was taken back to the membership of the Market and the majority of the members were blown away by the increase. The membership was given the opportunity to share their views with the the Steering Committee for the Market and another round of negotiations ensued. The second approach from the Department of Parks & Recreation was to phase the rent in over a three year period. The rent would be raised to $5500 for the first year but would go up over $5000 every year for three years, resulting in a fee of $17,000 being paid the third year of the contract. The Market was also informed that we would be responsible for our own trash removal which has always been included in the rent that we pay to Parks & Recreation.

At this point the Market chose to pursue a conversation with Mayor Bob Kiss. The reason for bringing the Mayor in was that the we feel like this is a policy shift in how the City views the Market. We are fully aware that the Market has had good deal in regards to the rent, and were prepared for a moderate increase but feel the proposals are unwarranted. We feel that the City has changed its views on local agriculture, local businesses, and the opportunity to provide an outlet for small businesses that are using the Market as an incubator to grow and expand. This rent increase is coming on top of the requirement that all of our vendors carry their own Product Liability Insurance, which is an added expense and another prohibitive factor for small businesses trying to join the Market.

The President of the Market and the Market Manager sat down with Mayor Bob Kiss to discuss how we feel this has and will impact the Market and its members. The conversation was very pleasant and productive in that we learned the City does love the Market and would hate to see it ever leave. However, no decisions were made or proposed by the City. The Market came out of the meeting, no closer to reaching a solution to the increase and still feeling slightly uneasy about the City's attitude towards the Market. A proposal was put forth by the President of the Market and agreed upon by the Steering Committee that it was time for the us to go public. The entire membership was notified that the next step for us would be to get the community involved. We are reaching out to local papers, politicians and Friends of the Market, our reasoning is to inform the community as to where we are at with the City of Burlington.

The Burlington Farmers' Market loves being in City Hall Park every Saturday from May to October. The Market views the spot as a great central locale for foot traffic coming and going to Church Street and the Waterfront. We believe that we bring people downtown on Saturday's and benefit the local businesses and restaurants. We enjoy showcasing all Burlington and Vermont has to offer tourist to the area and our consistent core of loyal customers. The Market does not want to leave the spot that is has been in for over 20 years, however if the cost is to high, it may be forced to look into other locations.

We are asking the community to get involved however they feel would be appropriate. Our landlord is technically the Department of Parks & Recreation because we set up in City Hall Park, a public park. Their address is:

PARKS & RECREATION DEPARTMENT

CITY OF BURLINGTON

Attention: Wayne Gross, Director

645 Pine Street; Suite B

Burlington, VT 05401

(802) 865-7247

FAX: (802) 862-8027


If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,
Chris Wagner
Market Manager
Burlington Farmers Market
(802) 399-0149
chriscwag31@gmail.com

February Market

Hello and Welcome to the BFM blog,

It's been a busy winter for the Burlington Farmers Market. The winter market is going great. We are three markets into the winter with our fourth market coming up Saturday, February 21st. The community support has been awesome, thanks everyone for coming out in the cold. We are still working on getting the word out about the market. Sometimes it feels like the whole city has come out to the market, then a couple days later you'll meet someone who didn't even know there was a winter market. We need our Friends of the Market to help us get the word out. Tell your friends, post it to your blogs, bring your friends down on Saturday.

We also have a lot going on with the Summer Market. Our lease is up with the City of Burlington and we are negotiating our new contract with the Mayor and Parks & Recreation Department. We are getting new applications everyday for a spot at the Summer Market. We wish we could accept everyone but that won't be possible. We have room for about 6 new vendors and so far we have 32 applications. If you would like any information about the Summer Market or the next Winter Market please feel free to contact the Market Manager through the BFM website.

See you all at the market.

First Winter Market a Success!!

I have put together a nice photostream of the first winter market held at Memorial Auditorium November 22nd.  

It was packed, people had perma-grins on their faces, and the air was festive as customers bought supplies for Thanksgiving dinner.  It took me so long to just get past the first aisle of vendors because there were so many people, but also because there were so many folks I haven't seen since market ended back in October!  We had a lot of fun talking with everyone and learning what a valuable resource the market is to our Burlington community.  I didn't take nearly as many photos as I should have - I must say, it was quite a challenge balancing my lunch, purchases, AND the camera at this market!  What a great day!

The masses descend.

The balcony afforded a fantastic view of the orderly mayhem on the floor.

Lewis Creek was there with a wide selection of produce.

Fuad, the Samosaman was there with his popular samosas.

Arethusa Collective Farm was there with great storage crops...

...and debuting their new tomato sauce, sauerkraut, and frozen veggies!

There were plenty of new vendors to check out, too.  Here's Geni's Raw Vegan Foods.

And another welcome addition, East Shore Vineyards!  

More pictures coming soon!

The WINTER MARKET is happening !!!!!

Burlington Winter Farmers' Market Announces Vendors

Burlington - What's for sale at a winter farmers' market? The list of 34
winter vendors, announced today by the Burlington Farmers' Market
Association, helps answer that question.

"Everyone is curious about what exactly is for sale at a winter farmers'
market," said Hank Bissell, president of the Burlington Farmers' Market
Association. "The wide array of vendors who will be selling their products
at the winter market shows that quite a variety of local agricultural
products, along with prepared foods and crafts, are available, even in the
winter."

Farmers will be offering eggs, cheeses, meats, maple syrup, honey, wine,
jams, pickles, and a variety of vegetables. This harvest season,
agricultural vendors are storing crops such as carrots, beets, potatoes,
squash, onions, and garlic for sale at the market, while others are freezing
produce such as corn and strawberries.

The market will be held in Memorial Auditorium, 10am-2pm with the kick off
market November 22. The market will then continue on to the third Saturday
of each month from December through April (December 20, January 17, February
21, March 21, and April 18).

The market is generously sponsored by City Market/Onion River Co-op, The
Community and Economic Development Office (CEDO), and the Northeast Organic
Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA Vermont).

2008-2009 Burlington Winter Farmers' Market Vendors
Adam's Village Bakery
After All Designs
Amai Bijoux
Arethusa Collective Farm
Bee Happy Vermont
Doe's Leap Farm
Dragonfly Sugarworks
Flower Power VT
Fresh Tracks Farm
Full Moon Farm
GeniVegan Raw Food
Got Local Kitchens
Green Mountain Granola
Honey Gardens Apiaries
Jangle Designs
Jericho Settler's Farm
Kathryn's Bags
Lake Ends Cheeses
Lewis Creek Farm
Maple Wind Farm
McGurran Bee Farm
Naga Bakehouse
Pine Ledge Fiber Studio
Plouhgate Creamery
Rockville Market Farm
Roof Top Pottery
Samosaman Natural Foods
Savage Gardens
Serchan's Ethnic Foods
Sunny Brook Maple
Tamarack Hollow Farm
The Nutty Vermonter
Willow Hill Farm

A few pictures of some of our new vendors

Jessica from the world famous Lulu & Bea children clothing line.

We welcome her and her business partner Diane to the market this year as provisional vendors.

Just a sampling of what Lulu & Bea have to showcase.

Great advertising.

Alex & Nick - The Dinky Donut Team - also new to the market this year. These two go out of their way to provide Farmers Market inspired donuts every week. Always with great success.

A sampling of the favorites.

Adam is a new baker to the market this year and provides our customers with a great variety of hearty, old world, artisan breads.

Mark from Jericho Settlers Farm

Fresh chicken was available earlier in the season but they've sold out. A great sign of success for the farm.

Pitchfork Farm is new this year and we welcome them to the market. Come check out their farm fresh produce every Saturday.

Molly from Pitchfork Farm located in Intervale Center.

EBT and Debit Success!

Hello everyone! Mara the BFM Treasurer here to let you know about the new project that the Burlington Farmers' Market is doing. One of the major projects requested by our membership to the BFM Steering Committee was to work on getting our market to accept Food Stamps, also known as EBT. EBT stands for Electronic Benefits Transfer. It was a long road getting here, filled with meeting after meeting after conference call after Federal form to fill out, but we have succeeded and now we officially accept Food Stamps! This is a great project spearheaded by NOFA-VT. Not only does the nifty wireless machine that we now possess accept EBT, but it also accepts debit as well (for a very small market-supporting transaction fee of $1.00)! So, what this means is that a customer can go to the market manager's tent, talk with our super awesome EBT operator, UVM student Katie Carroll, and let her know how much $$ they would like to spend at the market that day. They swipe their card, and if they are an EBT customer they receive $1 tokens, and if they are

a Debit customer, they receive $5 tokens. The funds immediately get transferred from their EBT/Debit account and get deposited into our account. Since we are not a bank, we cannot dispense actual cash, so we use these nifty all maple VT made tokens with our logo on them. Since it is a Federal program, people with EBT cards from any state can use our machine and receive tokens! The customer then goes to the vendors and uses them like cash. The vendors turn in their tokens to the market, and get reimbursed with a check.

I thought that it would take a long time to get lots of customers using this system, but in 2 weeks of operation, we have over $210 in EBT sales and $179 in Debit sales! This means that EBT customers are coming to market and using them to outpace debit transactions, which is exactly what we hoped it would do!

Another nice perk of the EBT machine is that we can use it year-round, so even at our winter market. Hopefully Burlingtonians will continue to see this as a valuable service and use it as even more incentive to visit our market! So, if you find yourself stuck at the market with no cash, go see Katie and she'll be happy to swipe your Debit or EBT card and get you some tokens!

The Market in July

Hello there,

It's a great time to make it down to the market. July is shaping up to be an awesome month for the Burlington Farmers Market. Last week we had the North Star Amblers performing for us in the center of the park and this coming week we have a string quartet from UVM coming to share some music. The Farm to Family program is in full swing and we have a lot of locals taking advantage of this great program. Parents are getting a chance to provide healthy, nutritious fruits and vegetables to their families and the farmers at the market are providing great choices for them. Are craft vendors are setting records and as usual our food vendors are offering delicious lunch options. Burlington Farmers Market tote bags have arrived and are available for $15 at the managers tent set up on College Street. They've been a huge success so far and it's a great way to show your support for the market. I wanted to thank everyone again for showing their support for the market and offering to help out where ever they can. See you all Saturday.

Lots Happening at the Market

Hello Again,

July should be a pretty busy month for the market. We've got some music lined up to perform in the middle of the park and our vendors are setting records every Saturday. Today was the first day for the Farm to Family coupons and we had a great turn out of people taking advantage of the offer. Burlington loves the Market and we love our customers! We haven't always had the best weather but our loyal family of fans make it down week after week and we thank you all. We are gearing up for our first winter market and ironing out the logistics. Look for some of your favorite summer vendors as well as new winter vendors. We are always accepting applications for both markets if you interested you can download an application from our website. I'd like to thank all the people that have been signing up for our "Friends of the Market" effort. This is a real grassroots movement that the market is starting this year to gauge interest in the market. If you'd like to help with a certain project or you think your area of expertise could be beneficial to the growth of the market stop by my tent and we'll chat.

More BFM Pictures

Some more pictures of the market for your enjoyment!

Monica's Tamale Girl Tamales

Tamale Girl Offerings

Beautiful preserves from Black Creek Preserves

Montcalm Winery

Chick Peace Hummus

Sue Johnson from Meadowland Farm spinning her wool.

Some of her wool offerings.

Molly & Eric from Pitchfork Farm.

Rainy Market

Hello Everyone,

Well we knew it would be beautiful every market day. The crops needed the rain is what I heard from the farmers last Saturday. I wanted to thank all of our die hard, loyal patrons that made it out to see us Saturday. Overall it was a successful market. I'm excited to announce the market is exploring the possibility of local musicians coming to perform at the market. Something new we're trying out to see the response we get. Next Saturday we have a group performing called, That Toga Band. Stop by and let me know what you think.

New Vendors for 2008

Here are some pictures from the market this week!

Here's a special focus on the new vendors for 2008. Enjoy!

Christina & Kris from Fresh Tracks Farm. Be sure to take part in one of their wine tastings every Saturday!! They recently won International awards with 3 of their wines! Check out their website here for details.

Their Frontenac Gris and Vermont Rose.

And the Fresh Tracks Farm Sugarhouse Round Maple.

The folks at Crawford Family Farm showcasing their Vermont Ayr Cheese. Check here for more great information about their cheese.

Some nice close-ups of their great labels.

The natural rind on their Vermont Ayr cheese.

Adam's Village Bakery.

His Dark Rye.

And the 3-seed loaf.

Danielle Griffin at Danielle's Dressings.

Danielle creates dressings from her own herbs and local in-season fruits.

A few of the selections perfect for all your salad needs!

Danielle also creates salad boquet wraps for lunch!

Two Great Markets in a Row

This past weekend was yet another fantastic market. The weather stayed beautiful and I think graduation and Kid's Day brought out some more people to the market. Last Saturday was also the opening weekend of the Art Mart at the Firehouse Gallery. All things combined to create an all around great experience for our vendors and customers. I wanted to thank all of the people that have been stopping by the Market Managers tent to express their interest in helping the Market grow. We are compiling everyones name and contact information and we will be in touch. We all believe that the market could be huge and we need to get a grassroots movement together to explore all our possibilities. The desire is there both from the Market membership and our customers we just need to point everyone in the right direction. Thanks again.
Chris Wagner

Manager's First Market

Hello Everyone,

Thanks for a great first market. The weather was beautiful and it was inspiring to see all of the markets valued patrons come out to welcome us back to City Hall Park. I wanted to thank everyone for making my first market such a success. I look forward to working with everyone to make this the greatest year for the market. We have big plans for the BFM including bringing in 10 new vendors this year, working with local musicians to showcase their talents at the market and working with the city to discuss the growth of the market. I hope that anyone interested in joining the market, helping the market or discussing the market will stop by and see me some Saturday I'm always willing to hear good ideas. Thanks again. Chris Wagner

Successful First Market!

The BFM had a very successful first market! It was so nice to see all of our vendors back again - not to mention all of our committed customers! There were so many fantastic products available, from rhubarb to handbags to bedding plants and asparagus! We look forward to many more weeks of seasonal produce, fruit, maple, and crafts. Visit us weekly at the Burlington Farmers' Market in City Hall Park in Downtown Burlington every Satuday until October 25th from 8:30 am to 2:00 pm.

Around the Clock Sugarmakers

Kathryn's Bags

Doe's Leap has added kefir to their fantastic line of goat's milk products.

Tamarack Hollow Farm promises bacon hypnosis when you try their bacon!

Welcome!

Welcome to the Burlington Farmers' Market Blog! We are hoping that this blog can be a forum for BFM vendors, customers and community members to share ideas about making this market the best it can possibly be. Please leave comments and let us know if you'd like to write an article for the blog. Thank you!