Farmers Market Finds

I think it’s safe to call myself a fall fanatic.  I virtually count down the days until Bath and Body Works releases their new fall candles and body washes.  I pretty much buy anything with the word pumpkin on it and I’m consistently in a better mood this time of year.  I can say with certainty that when the leaves begin to change I’ll be walking around town with a stupid grin plastered on my face for almost the entire month of October.  So being the fall nut that I am, I tend to enjoy fall related activities, a.k.a.  going apple picking or visiting a pumpkin patch.  This weekend we had the most perfect fall weather.  So I decided there was no better time than to kick off the season with a trip to the country’s largest producer only farmers market.

 The Dane County Farmers Market takes place in Madison, Wisconsin and the market encircles the city’s capitol building.  It runs year round every Saturday from 6 a.m. till 2 p.m. The great thing about a producer only market is you are literally buying directly from the people who raised the beef, grew the flowers or made the cheese.

 Let me tell you, this farmers market is the big leagues.  There are over 160 sellers who attract crowds of over 20,000 people!  But don’t let the numbers intimidate you, even the most inexperienced farmers market shopper (myself included) will be able to navigate the vast amounts of veggies.

 Madison is only a short drive (2 hours if I’m driving, 1.5 hours if my mom drives) from St. Charles.  Parking around the market was super convenient and inexpensive.  Once we got up to the market we entered what could only be described as a sea of people.  The market completely encircles the capitol and once you enter the queue you really just have to go with the flow.

I’ll admit I’ve never been to a farmers market before and this one certainly set the bar high.  The fruits and vegetables could only be described as pristine.  The flowers in my opinion however, stole the show.  I would say there were about 15 vendors selling bouquets and each and every one of them was stunning (and reasonably priced).  I bought mine for 5 dollars!

But one vendor in particular captured my heart…and my stomach.  Chris and Lori’s Bakehouse was the first booth we stopped at and by far my favorite.  

As their name implies, they sell baked goods.  But what they’re famous for are their scones.  Their 15 different varieties of scones range from “ultra healthy” to “slightly healthy”. They also offer cow shaped sugar cookies that fall under the category, “healthy schmealthy”. I’d venture to guess my espresso dark chocolate scone wasn’t under the “ultra healthy” category but damn was it good.  I would drive 2 hours every Saturday just to have one of these bad boys.

 It took us about an hour to move around the entire market.  We stopped to chat with some mushroom foragers (that sounds funny to say) and bought some homemade garlic onion crackers.  

Naturally, I gravitated toward one of the only pumpkin vendors and fell in love with a lumpy pink pumpkin.  We bought a few other odd ball pumpkins that are now fitting in quite nicely on our front porch.  Much like the flowers these specialty pumpkins were reasonably priced, 5 dollars a pumpkin. 

 So if you’re a fall freak like me, or you’re just looking for a fun thing to do on a Saturday, I would highly recommend a trip up to Madison.  And just think of how beautiful it’s going to be in just a few weeks when the leaves start to change.  I already know I’m going up for a second visit.  If you can’t make it up on a Saturday there is also a Wednesday market that while much smaller than Saturday’s (only 20 or so vendors), still features a great selection of products.

Happy start of fall!  Until next time, cheers!

A