Something has taken root; in fact, it’s about to bloom.
The Durango Farmers Market will kick off its 19th season Saturday with a nod to Mother’s Day – free tomato plants to the first 50 moms.
Last year’s market started slowly, but the recent mild spring temperatures nurtured local farmers’ harvests.
“I think folks’ favorite foods will be coming in earlier,” said market manager Cody Reinheimer. “Last year, everything was backed up a couple of weeks, and this year, everything is ahead.”
This year’s market, he said, also will offer more ready-to-eat foods, welcoming new dishes from Mountain Stir Fry.
Saturday morning’s downtown market, in the parking lot of First National Bank of Durango, 259 W. Ninth St., will blossom as the season progresses. Piles of locally grown fruit and produce – carrots, lettuce, garlic, beets, tomatoes, potatoes, onions, herbs – will be offered. Don’t forget local beef, cheese, eggs, pork, lamb, plus goods such as jams and honey. The bounty will be joined with offerings of local arts, crafts, soaps, lotions, clothes, pottery – you name it. Throw in live music, always, live music, and you’ve got a springtime celebration.
For opening day, Durango’s school of rock project, the Stillwater Foundation, will set the background score.
“It’s a fantastic open-air market, where we see our friends, and we see our farmers face-to-face,” Reinheimer said.
How local is local?
Vendors and products are from a five-county area: Archuleta, La Plata, Montezuma and San Juan, Colorado; and San Juan, New Mexico.
While last year’s market filled the bank’s lot to capacity, a few open spots remain for the upcoming season. But Reinheimer said that he is processing applications, and spots should fill quickly. So far, the market has secured 60 vendors.
With the market stretching the seams, casual talk has emerged about relocating, perhaps even taking on a few blocks of Main Avenue, but Reinheimer said the market is staying put.
“There have been all kinds of ideas thrown around, but there’s never been any kind of initiative on the part of the Farmers Market leadership,” he said.
Durango’s healthy market is not unique.
In a study presented by the Agricultural Marketing Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the national count of farmers markets has exploded during the last 20 years. In 1994, there were 1,750 markets operating in the United States. By 2014, there were 8,270.
Durango’s market will extend its season by an extra week – there will be one extra Saturday in October.
While the market season is just beginning, growers have been long at work, and the job is hardly easy. To some, small-holding farming is an endless cycle, from seed, to farm, to hand, to plate and back again. It’s an art, a science and a passion.
Tom Markle, with 550 Farms in the Animas Valley, enjoys the fruits of his labor, but he especially enjoys the labor part.
“I kind of do a little bit of everything,” said Markle, who grows a variety of produce and raises 10 pigs. “I like the hard work, to always have something to do. In agriculture, there is always something going wrong and something that needs to be fixed. There’s always a problem and always a solution.”
Markle said he took to farming naturally. He had never even been to a farmers market until he began growing food two years ago. Now, his red cabbage and other produce goes out on hundreds of plates daily at popular eateries.
“Agriculture kind of found me, and we just clicked,” he said. “It’s a constant learning experience. I just have a passion for cultivating plants.”
Farm-and-ranch manager Dustin Stein at Stubborn Farm & Burk Beef, owned by Jack and Patricia Burk in Mancos, said farming, for him, is a way of being, not just a means to a profit. It’s a calling.
“I want to do this for the rest of my life,” he said, adding that he spends a lot of time on his tractor thinking about such things. “I want to sell a product that I can stand behind and know that I’m not going to have any issues or regrets down the road. It’s important that we be ethical about what we do and not be 100 percent about the bottom line.”
Stein called sustainable farming an honorable choice – a service for the surrounding communities and businesses. Stubborn’s yields of produce and beef go out to regional and local restaurants and grocers.
“A lot of times, my practice with soil and water cost a little bit more and keep me from making as much money as I potentially could, but in the long run, it’s healthier for the land, our crops and our animals,” Stein said. “I can sleep at night knowing that I’m doing the right thing for everyone involved.”
He also said farmers markets bridge the gap from farm to table.
“It’s a unique situation,” he said. “People can come ask questions. I think it’s fun for the customers to come and see who is growing their food and see their faces and see how dirty their hands are.”
Meet the farmers from 8 a.m. until noon every Saturday through Halloween.
And, yes, Reinheimer said, the first 50 moms Saturday will get a complimentary tomato plant “as a nice gesture to the moms in the community,” he said. “And a fun way to get the garden started.”
bmathis@durangoherald.com
