by Kathleen Yetman, Executive Director, Prescott Farmers Market
As summer approaches it’s a great time to visit the Prescott Farmers Market. Here are three reasons to check it out.
See your neighbors
How often do you see more than one person you know at the grocery store? Aside from attending church, where do you interact with people in a community setting on a weekly basis? The Prescott Farmers Market is a vibrant gathering place where people are bound to catch up with friends, colleagues and neighbors.
A trip to the market provides people with an opportunity to feel connected to a community. Marketgoers can enjoy breakfast, brunch and lunch as they take in the sights, smells and sounds of the market. While eating a tamale, samosa or cinnamon roll, share the table with a stranger and you might walk away with a new friend in addition to a satisfied stomach.
Meet your farmers
Prescott Farmers Market hosts farmers who plant, water, weed and harvest produce year-round right here in Yavapai County. Knowing the person who grows the food you eat is one of the healthiest things you can do for your diet.
Buying directly from farmers and ranchers builds trust and boosts the local economy. If you have a question, you’ll get an answer straight from the source. Farmers can tell you whether any pesticides or herbicides were applied, how the weather affects flavor, exactly when the produce was harvested, how it was washed and the best ways to eat it.
The Prescott community is fortunate to have these local experts at their fingertips.
Know your food
Unless you’re harvesting from your own garden, you can’t find fresher produce than the farmers market. Produce found at the grocery store is generally picked before it is ripe, shipped thousands of miles and sits on a shelf for several days before being purchased.
Eating seasonally is ideal because fruits and vegetables are harvested at peak ripeness, which gives them incredible flavor and the best nutritional value. Right now asparagus spears are pushing up through the soil toward the sky. Local farmers generally harvest asparagus shoots only between late March and early June, which makes them an annual delicacy.
Like asparagus, each season the market has specialty produce — much of which you won’t find at the grocery store. In addition to fresh produce, the market has numerous other delicious foods: grass-fed beef, farm-fresh eggs, sourdough bread, mushrooms, pickles, kombucha, salsa, baked goods and more.
The Prescott Farmers Market takes place year-round on Saturdays:
- 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at Prescott High School through May 11
- Summer season starts May 18: 7:30 a.m. to noon at Yavapai College
For more information visit prescottfarmersmarket.org.
