Almost 50 vendors have signed up to sell goods at the Cortez Farmers Market that starts Saturday and will continue every Saturday through October.
Market manager Theresa Titone said the Cortez Farmers Market has been occurring for more than 25 years, and added that it started out on Market Street before moving to the Montezuma County Courthouse parking lot at Main and Elm streets about 10 years ago to accommodate the growing number of vendors.
Primarily, the market composition is farmers with vegetable and fruit crops, and the market only allows a certain amount of craft vendors and bakery good vendors, Titone said.
She said there are vendors like the coffee and the breakfast burritos which are allowed to enhance the atmosphere at the market. The vendor fees help pay for the music, which are all local bands and performers.
She said there is no set deadline to apply to be a vendor, but once spaces are filled the market will not accept any more applications.
Vendors left out may be placed on a waiting list, and if an opening occurs, the market will let those applicants know, Titone said.
She said the market vendors sell a variety of produce and products, but all must be grown or produced in Montezuma or Dolores counties.
Produce ranges from apples to zucchini with everything in between, Titone said.
She said the early crops are typically lettuce, carrots, radishes and spinach. Later crops are tomatoes, onions, all types of peppers, garlic, squash, beans from green beans to dryland pintos potatoes, kale, and all types of herbs and fresh flowers.
Titone said the market will have two certified meat vendors. One will sell pork, and the other one will sell lamb.
She said the market will have a certified egg vendor and other vendors who sell plants like vegetables and herbs so people can grow things themselves.
The farmers market will also have fresh baked bread, breakfast pastries, breakfast burritos, and other baked goods like desserts, pies, cookie and cakes.
Marybeth Gentry, owner of Flippin Eggs, will be selling her goods at the market for the first time.
She will sell poultry eggs the first weekend of the market and in the second weekend she expects to have a variety of crops to sell as she is waiting for the right time to begin harvesting.
I want to support my community, and I enjoy farming, Gentry said. Its exciting, fun and engaging.
Gentry also said she will sell cut flowers at this years farmers market.
Titone said the farmers market in Cortez provides a valuable service to the community by allowing customers direct contact with local growers or producers.
She said customers are buying directly from their neighbors and that helps support the local economy.
She also said the farmers market has also become a great social event where friends gather to enjoy a cup of coffee and visit while shopping.
The market will also have jellies and jams, and honey and craft vendors who sell everything from Native American jewelry to felted scarves and hats to aprons and quilts.
The market is open every Saturday from June through October from 7:30 a.m. to noon unless everything sells out on a particular day.
Reach Michael Maresh at michaelm@cortezjournal.com