Capital District Farmers Market

I love this place! If you have passengers who are a bit unsteady on their pegs, or in a wheelchair, you can park literally a few feet from the farmers’ booths. There are no stairs or obstacles or long hikes from the parking lot. It’s just a long, open pavilion — a tall tin roof — with tons of parking all around. Pull right up! You can buy armloads of veggies, dump them right into your car, and go on to the next booth.
Jess P was spot-​on about the farmers here not being the «academic-​type farmers». That being said, I’ve gotten some truly amazing fruits and veggies here. The special events are really sweet — the Pumpkin Festival had a corral with pedal tractors for the pint-​sized to ride, tractor-​pulled hayrides, and live music.
I have heard it’s more crowded in the morning — wait until 11 or noon if you prefer lots of open space and an unhurried pace.

Wow! This is a great farmer’s market. I’m not sure if the produce is quite as good as the Troy place, but I like the real salt-​of-​the earth atmosphere here.
During the week, it’s wholesale only, but on Saturdays they open it up for retail to the public.
This doesn’t seem to be the place for the academic-​type farmers, if you know what I mean. You know, the Michael Pollan reading ones who can recite an entire thesis on the definitions of organic. I love those people too, but most of the farmers here are of a different variety. The ones I saw today are the farmers who have been doing it forever, and who haven’t bothered to scrub the soil out of their finger nails before coming to hawk their wares.
When I went today, there weren’t a whole lot of fruits and veggies, but there were a ton of plants. The plants alone were definitely worth the trip. I restrained myself and only purchased a nice rosemary plant. A great farm near my mother’s house — Stanton’s — also had a gorgeous array of strawberries. There’s nothing like a good early June strawberry. They’re smaller than those hulking California ones but the taste is a thousand times better. At 5.75 for a quart, it might seem a bit pricey but I think the quality makes it worth the price.
There are also several little craft stands, along with vendors selling nut butters, jams and the like. Oh, and they take credit cards.
I can’t wait to come back when it’s full-​on summer.

It’s a mass of humanity at this farmer’s market. Everyone crams under a roof (or maybe that’s just when it’s raining) in the middle of a parking lot. Bowman’s is there, so even though I haven’t been there in September, you might be able to get their honeycrisps. Lots of good corn in the summer, but not many different sellers. Maybe four or five farms, then a couple of different sellers for honey, jarred stuff and that sort of thing, but a good variety for what is there. Don’t mind the crazy bearded old guy with his collection of weird vegetables if he doesn’t help you when you want to pay him for zucchini. I’m pretty sure you can just leave your money on the table. Lots of flowers, and they sell only that during the week.