BOISE — The Boise Farmers Market is getting ready to launch its Winter Market, but Saturday’s event is more than the beginning of a new season.
Twenty-five ceremonial bell ringers will mark the start of Boise Farmers Market at its new, permanent home at Idaho Botanical Garden.
The move comes after trying to find viable real estate in or near downtown Boise since at least 2017.
“The Idaho Botanical Garden just made us a phenomenal offer, and we’ve been talking about this for quite a few years now with them about what that might look like and how we could fit into their plans,” Tim Sommer, Boise Farmers Market board president, told the Boise Weekly in March. “So we’re pretty grateful for this coming about.”
Idaho Botanical Garden is about 1.5 miles from downtown and about 2 miles from its previous location at 1500 Shoreline Drive, where vendors had set up shop over the past seven years.
Executive Director Amber Beierle was at the new home Thursday, getting ready for the market’s big debut. She told the Idaho Press that Boise Farmers Market quickly outgrew its old locations and that the event continues to grow.
“More people are coming to the farmers market because people appreciate good, local food,” she said. “They want to sustain the local economy and help grow the local food system. It’s a misconception that local food costs more money. You can get better, nutrient-dense food grown by your neighbor just a county away at the farmers market rather than buy the same, lower-quality food that was grown 1,000 miles away.”
Favorable weather has extended the local growing season, and Beierle said the Winter Market this weekend will feature more fruits and vegetables.
“Come and meet the person that grows your food,” Beierle said. “Don’t trust the label. Trust the human being.”
Local artist and farmer Jacquelyn Sommer painted 25 ceremonial bells to ring in the celebration of Boise Farmers Market’s new home at Idaho Botanical Garden.
Courtesy of Boise Farmers Market
The Boise Farmers Market’s Winter Market will take place 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at the Idaho Botanical Garden, 2355 E. Old Penitentiary Road in Boise. The event will feature up to 70 vendors.
Mayor Lauren McLean, Council Member Meredith Stead, Boise Famers Market Pollinator Society donors and founding board members will be among the bell ringers. Local artist and farmer Jacquelyn Sommer — whose work “Heart of the Wild” was recently featured on the cover of the Boise Weekly — hand-painted the bells, each customized with its own agriculture theme.
Trevor Hawes is the executive editor of the Idaho Press.
Dining and Cooking