The Ottawa Farmers’ Market only just wrapped its second weekend, but it’s already approaching capacity.
“We have reached the number of booths on the second day this year that we expected to reach in late July or August,” said president Andy Terauds, following the market’s official opening ceremony yesterday. “It just proves how popular the market is both from the vendor and the customer point of view.”
Yesterday, more than 60 vendors set up stalls offering everything from handcrafted-wood buckets to bison meat to asparagus — all of it produced within 100 kilometres of the city, and sold directly from the producer.
At its peak Terauds said the market this year will have more than 80 stalls set up in Lansdowne Park. Last year, over 26 Sundays, Terauds said the market generated $1.5 million in revenue.
The market has signed on for two more years in Lansdowne Park, although Terauds said its long-term future remains uncertain.
“From what we are hearing now, the city has committed to making the farmers’ market one of the key elements of the redesign for Lansdowne Park,” he said. “But long term, nobody knows.”
April Robinson has visited the market for several years, drawn by the variety and quality of goods for sale, but also because of sellers’ first-hand expertise.
“The producers are all here, so when you have a question you can ask them how it was grown or made. That’s definitely a selling feature for me.”
-tim.wieclawski@metronews.ca
