The award-winning Saint Paul Farmers’ Market will open its outdoor Lowertown location for the season on Saturday, April 27 and will be open weekends through November 24. Hours will be 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday and 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday. In addition to an abundance of fresh, local, seasonal produce, shoppers will find healthful dairy and meat products, eggs, baked goods, honey from local hives, small-batch packaged foods and beverages, plant-based apothecary goods, and an array of flowers and plants from Minnesota growers. On opening day, April 27, free coffee will be offered to visitors from 7:00-8:00 a.m.

The Market will also host chef pairings at a monthly pop-up kitchen organized by restauranteur and Market collaborator Tim McKee at which two chefs who don’t work together will team up to prepare foods using the Market vendors’ produce and foods to create dishes to sell. There will also be art and educational activities for kids, demos on topics such as food preservation and native gardening, and many other community events celebrating the Minnesota growers and makers that add beauty and bounty to the Twin Cities. Visitors will also be able to nosh on an array of foods cooked onsite by vendors including Golden’s Bagel Stand, operated by the family that owned the beloved Golden’s Deli.

“We stand in strong support of Minnesota small-ag and the farm families who comprise it,” said David Kotsonas, executive director of the Saint Paul Farmers’ Market. “Farmers Markets increase both the community’s access to the freshest and most nutritious foods, and the opportunities for local, independent food producers to succeed. We are committed to our growers and only offer locally grown produce and locally made foods and we are proud of the wide variety of quality foods available at our Markets, and are always looking to expand upon that variety.”

The Saint Paul Farmers’ Market opened more than 150 years ago and has become one of the most respected farmers’ markets in the Upper Midwest. The Saint Paul Growers’ Association, Inc., which operates the Market, allows only fresh, locally grown produce to be sold, directly from the grower to the consumer, making it unique among many farmers’ markets. The baked goods, artisan foods, confections and other products offered are produced locally or regionally as well.

Some of the Market’s vendors have sold there for many generations, such as the Gerten family that’s been involved since the late 1800s. Hmong immigrants Phoua Thao and Wang Ger Hang began selling their produce at the Market in 1991 and now their children and grandchildren are also involved in the family business. Daughter Pakou Hang is the co-founder of the Hmong American Farmers Association (HAFA)and her parents grow 40 different kinds of produce on 10 acres on the HAFA Farm, which they helped found in 2011 in Dakota County. The Market also features newer growers such as Nick Robinson of R & R Cultivation who began growing mushrooms last year in a 3’x3’ canvas closet and now offers many varieties including shiitake, oyster, lion’s mane and others, and whose business has grown exponentially in one year’s time. Rachael KraMer of My Goodness! Kombucha creates beverages and apothecary goods using unpasteurized kombucha made of local ingredients including herbs from her garden and she offers those and kombucha starter (SCOBY) at the Market.

In addition to the weekend downtown Saint Paul location, the Saint Paul Farmers’ Market operates neighborhood Markets in Roseville, Rosemount, Andover, Maplewood, Lakeville, South Saint Paul, West Saint Paul, Vadnais Heights, Burnsville, Apple Valley, Woodbury, Savage, and Inver Grove Heights. There are also weekday markets at Securian, 7th Place and St. Thomas More in Saint Paul. The neighborhood markets will open in May and June and will operate into the fall. A Union Depot location will open in the fall. For a complete schedule and locations, visit http://www.stpaulfarmersmarket.com/index.php/locations.

Another unique aspect of the Saint Paul Farmers’ Market is a deep commitment to giving back to the community. Each Sunday during the growing season, the downtown outdoor Market donates unsold produce from the growers to the Neighborhood House food bank, averaging 8,000 pounds of produce each month. That location also offers nonprofits the opportunity to be at the Market to promote the work they do, and the neighborhood markets support nonprofits in their communities, too. The Market’s philanthropic focus is an area that Kotsonas and his team are growing, with new programs that foster greater community engagement and ways of giving back in each of the neighborhoods where the Markets are located.

The Market still has a few spaces for makers of locally sourced and produced food products. Visit http://www.stpaulfarmersmarket.com/index.php/membership to download a vendor application. The Saint Paul Farmers’ Market is located at 290 5th Street East in downtown Saint Paul. For more information, visit www.stpaulfarmersmarket.com.