Meet Me at the Market: Logan’s Gardener’s Market offers handmade goods and homegrown vegetables Saturdays through Oct. 1
This little piggy went to market, this little piggy went home … with oriental eggplant, wax beans, goat’s milk soap and a loaf of fresh artisan bread.
Every Saturday, local vendors assemble in the park on the corner of 100 E and 100 South (behind Tony Roma’s) to sell their locally grown or handmade wares. The market is open through the summer and into the early fall Saturdays from 8-12 a.m. There are still three Saturdays to catch the market this year until the final meeting on Oct. 1.
The Gardener’s Market, now in its twenty-third year, was started for gardeners with excess produce.
“It has grown into this,” market advisory board member Tom Proffitt said of the current variety offered at the market. The weekly tradition now includes more than 200 registered vendors, with more than 50 vendors arriving to sell at the market on any given week.
The rule of the market is that all products available for sale are either grown or made in Utah.
“We’re here to serve as a local venue as opposed to the big box stores,” advisory board member Rob Morrison said.
A wide variety of products are available, most of which are sold by the people who produced them. Pottery, photography, woven hats, T-shirts and other handcrafted items are sold alongside elderberries, tomatoes, cucumbers, and fresh meats produced by local farmers and ranchers.
“Our motto is ‘homegrown, homemade, handmade,'” Proffitt said. “These vegetables were picked an hour ago. You don’t get much fresher than that.”
In addition to the large selection of homemade and homegrown products, live music, friendly people and the open-air market conditions combine to make for a relaxed atmosphere that many find is just what the doctor ordered.
“We conducted a survey recently of people who attend the market to find out why they come, and found that they come more for the festive event than anything else,” Proffitt said.
Becky Yeager, who sells soap called “The Spirit Goat,” agreed. “If it wasn’t such a fun place, I wouldn’t be here.”
Despite temperatures in the mid 50s last Saturday, the market maintained its fun reputation with many visitors making their way for fresh food and a variety of crafts.
“We’d like to invite folks down and have a good time,” said Proffitt.
-dfelix@cc.usu.edu