Market thrives despite weather

Warm temperatures during the weekend brought more people than usual to the Bloomington Winter Farmers’ Market at the Harmony School.

However, some vendors said the cold weather from the previous weekends has not especially affected customer turnout.

Market vendor Julie Thomas of Flower Power said that some days have had less people, but overall there’s still a steady flow of people coming to the market each week.

“It isn’t always as busy as today,” Thomas said. “But it’s never been a ghost town, so to speak.”

Open from 9 a.m. to noon every Saturday at the Harmony School, the market offers a variety of local vendors selling goods ranging from homemade pies to fresh arugula.

Christina Hunter, owner of Hunter’s Honey Farm, said her sales have been fairly regular this winter. Since first selling at the Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market in 1984, she’s become accustomed to how the winter market operates.

“The summer market is definitely a lot larger, but I still have a lot of people come through,” she said. “The people of Bloomington are very faithful customers.”

The atmosphere of the winter market is much different than that of the summer market. Enclosed in the gym of the Harmony School, the scents and sounds of the winter market are amplified in the small space.

For Saturday’s entertainment, the Eastern European Ensemble performed and featured a singer and various instrumentalists.

Loyal customer and Bloomington local Samantha Ezzo said she comes to the farmer’s market every week. She said she loves the market because she’s been able to get to know some of the vendors very well.

“You really get to know people here,” she said. “It’s all part of the experience. It’s just so nice to know who’s growing your food and selling it to you.”

Bloomington residents Bill and Cindy Walters also said that the vendors are part of why the winter market is so special.

“The people here are cooks as well as produce vendors,” Bill said. “They always give great advice on what foods we should make.”

The couple decided to stay indoors last weekend because of the cold weather and said that some of the vendors told them that only a quarter of the number of people who usually come to the market showed up last Saturday.  

“Today is about as busy as I’ve seen it,” Cindy said.

Julie Thomas said that people are willing to risk the cold in order to come buy the high-quality produce. She said the winter market is especially great for prepared food vendors like herself because they are more easily accessible in the smaller space.

“People come because they want to try new products,” she said. “Our customers are foodies, after all.”