The Albert Lea Farmers Market is slated to open for the season Wednesday in the North Broadway parking lot.

The market will be in two locations this year. On Wednesdays, it will be open from 4 to 6 p.m. in the North Broadway lot, and on Saturdays it will be open from 9 a.m. to noon in the Northbridge Mall parking lot, said Albert Lea Farmers Market President Verlys Huntley.

Huntley said the growing season is about two weeks behind an average year, and because of this, there may only be rhubarb and asparagus for produce the first week. There might also be perennials and annuals for people looking to plant flowers.

Available every week will be baked goods, eggs, jams and jellies, salsa, pickles, bedding plants and other craft items.

All items sold at the market are vendor-produced from within a 25-mile radius of Albert Lea.

Huntley said the vendors have been working diligently to encourage more people to come to the market through the mail and the Internet, particularly Facebook.

Each resident in Freeborn County should have received a direct mailer that includes a punch card. Every time people go to the market they can receive a hole-punch on the card and then receive a reward after a certain number are obtained.

New this year, a representative from Mayo Clinic Health System in Albert Lea will be at the market every first Wednesday of the month for various health-related topics, such as blood-pressure screenings, glucose screenings or teaching about healthy eating. The first presentation will be in June.

Also in June, there will also be more children’s activities out of an attempt to attract young families to the market. Huntley said the market’s board sent out 500 coloring books that are also cookbooks to preschoolers and kindergartners containing a flier about the farmers market.

In addition, the market was awarded a grant to teach demonstrations on simple canning and food sealing, and the market is looking for entertainers on Wednesdays. Organizations will begin offering meals in June.

For the fourth year, the market will offer a scanning machine equipped to handle credit and debit cards, along with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program vouchers and Electronic Benefit Transfer cards.

She said people can find out up-to-date information about what items will be available at the market each week by checking out the Facebook page. The website is at www.albertleafarmersmarket.com.

 

When is certain produce at the market?

• Late May and early June: green onions, lettuce, spinach, radishes, asparagus and rhubarb

• June: herbs, broccoli onions, peas, kohlrabi and strawberries

• July: green beans, yellow beans, beets and broccoli

• Late July: sweet corn, cucumbers, cauliflower, eggplant, peas, sweet onions and potatoes, raspberries, zucchini, summer squash, melons and early tomatoes

• August: early apples, green beens, beets, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, herbs, melons, onions, green peppers, hot peppers, potatoes, squash, zucchini and tomatoes

• September: apples, beets, cabbage, sweet corn, gourds, Indian corn, winter squash, melons, watermelons, musk melons, onions, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, fall raspberries and tomatoes