Biggest-ever Carlton County Farmers Market opens Saturday

May 30—CLOQUET — This season's Carlton County Farmers Market is set to be the biggest one in the market's 41-year history, with 45 vendors selling locally produced meat, dairy, produce and freshly baked goods.

"Things are looking really good for the season," said Gail Olson, manager of the farmers market. "I'm really excited about it."

The market is set to return Saturday, June 1, from 9 a.m. to noon. Because of the uptick in vendors, this year's market will have an expanded space in front of Premiere Theatres off Minnesota Highway 33.

To participate, vendors must live and produce their products within 50 miles of the market. The market features many specialty crops local to the Northland and not readily available in grocery stores, according to Olson.

"We are a great source for fresh, delicious locally grown fruits and vegetables raised by farmers who care for their land," said Olson, a vendor and a fourth-generation farmer at Hay Creek Hill in Esko. "Fresh, well-grown produce just tastes better."

Shoppers can expect products like juneberries, tart cherries, honeyberries, kohlrabi and salad turnips, as well as heirloom varieties of tomatoes, lettuces, squash and peppers, Olson said. Though those ingredients may be novel to many shoppers, that is part of the fun of the market, Olson said.

"There's always something different. There's always something new," Olson said. "And you'll always be able to ask a question if you don't know what something is."

This marks the eighth season at the market for Bread in the Meadow, a bakery specializing in sourdough, yeasted breads and pastries.

"We just really liked the atmosphere, and so we keep coming back," said Elizabeth Naglak, of Bread in the Meadow. "And it's really grown over the years from when we started, so it just seems like a really nice place to sell."

The Carlton County Farmers Market, which also operates a second market in Carlton, was started in 1983 as an outlet for local farmers, bakers and preservers to sell their products, Olson said. Since then, interest in locally produced food has grown significantly. As that interest grows, so does the market, which has expanded by 25% since last year, when it had 35 vendors.

The uptick in vendors is a trend in the region because people are looking for side jobs either for economic reasons or because they are passionate about their products, Olson said. The market is run by volunteers, which allows prices to remain low and reigns in vendor fees.

"I think one of the things that people really notice about our farmers market is that it's very friendly and very accessible," Olson said. "And we've really strived to make those values visible at our farmers market."

Each year, the market chooses a new fruit or vegetable as its annual theme. The theme this year is beans, and the market will highlight the wide variety sold by vendors and will host bean-cooking demonstrations and bean-planting projects for kids.

Vendors will also be selling products that directly benefit nonprofits like the Alzheimer's Association and the Together We Grow Youth Program from the American Indian Community Housing Organization, which sell goods to teach local youth Indigenous cultural food practices, gardening, farming and entrepreneurial skills.

The market also participates in food assistance programs such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

For Olson, the Carlton County Farmers Market is more than just a trip to the grocery store; it is a celebration of summer and a community gathering over the Northland's brief but bountiful growing season.

"The opening of the farmers market is like a harbinger of spring and summer and the gardening seasons and all of the cooking and sharing with friends and families that we like to do during the summer," Olson said.