Winter Farmbrrrrr Market

By, Joseph Rhoades

Summer has gone, fall is here, and winter is coming; this may be exciting to many and upsetting to others.  This change in season however, brings on another kind of farmer’s market. The summer brings summer markets, but the winter brings on a different twist to this idea.  There are still many different varieties of fresh veggies and home baked and made items.  However, the aspect of home grown, fresh, fruits and vegetables is not as big in this season. Instead, people see more baked goods and craft items.

Relax, before everyone starts thinking that they are going to freeze and everyone start saying brrrr, that is going to be cold and miserable, it needs to be known that it is located in a warm and heated building.

Winter markets?

Inside view of market

On Saturday November 1, the season of Winter Markets kicked off in historic downtown Cheyenne.  I had the privilege of wandering around this event and meeting with some very polite and interesting people.  “I really enjoy farmer’s markets because I feel that people who sell items during the markets are nicer than people in grocery stores.  Another aspect I enjoy is that the items are homegrown and/or homemade.  The vendor’s willingness to tell you all the ingredients and how they made their products is also very refreshing” stated visitor, Mykel Owens.

After visiting one of these markets it is clear that every vendor takes a large deal of pride with their products.  They will make every possible move to make sure that their customers are satisfied and will jump on the opportunity to fix a problem if it is needed. Betty Shaffer made the comment “When you receive one of my baked goods you know that it is fresh, and you will not find fresh goodies that were made that day in a grocery store.  I will try my hardest to fix any unsatisfactory with my customers if they do not find my products satisfactory”.  Every vendor I spoke with had the same mentality, they want people to enjoy their fresh products and to continue to come back to the markets.

Expectation

“The winter market turnout, vendor wise, was not as big as the event that occurred during the summer.  There were still many different vendors and varieties of items to choose from though” stated Trace Buckert.

When visiting these events a person will expect to find:

• baked goods,
• canned items,
• craft items
• bbq sauce
• salsa
• homemade chip/tortillas
• homegrown/grass feed beef and poultry items
• jams and jellies
• etc

Some winter vegetables are being sold as well, due to their growing season extending later in the year.

Monroe Farm stand

When and where are they?

For the area of Cheyenne these events occur every first Saturday of the month from November 2014 until May 2015. There are also two extra days taking place on:

• November 15
• December 20

All of these events take place between 10 am and 2 pm, and are located in the historic train station in downtown Cheyenne.  The address for this location is:

Cheyenne’s Historic Train Depot, 121 West 15^th Street
Cheyenne, WY 82001

More information can be found by clicking here.

So what are you waiting for? Take a trip down to the Train Depot, shop for healthy homemade items and look around a historic relic from our past.