Market musings

Attending last week’s Thursday Night Market got me thinking about all the things I love about farmers’ markets. The energy there, especially around the farmers, food trucks and music, was alive and infectious. And while I always enjoy offerings of staples like Bordin Bees honey, Lodestar Farms olive oil and Guzzetti’s Indian Food & Catering chips and delicious dips, one thing that stood out to me was the variety of new vendors, people and businesses I’d never seen before.

The Thursday Night Market is special that way. The space is vast, allowing for a nice mix of farmers, food producers and crafters hocking their wares. I’ll be honest—I could take or leave the business tents (no offense) and only a handful of the vendors selling things like tie-dye skirts and whatnot usually spark my interest (sorry). But the huge variety of handmade stuff, be it edible or wearable or displayable, is pretty amazing for a town our size.

The Saturday morning downtown market is less eclectic. The vendors, for the most part, are static. That’s nice for those of us who head downtown on Saturday mornings and expect to be able to pick up certain items from certain vendors that we can rely on to be there. But it’s not very exciting for those who want to discover something new. What if the Saturday market were to expand ….

Oh wait! It is going to expand. Starting Jan. 1, the Chico Certified Farmers’ Market will fill the entire parking lot at the corner of Second and Wall streets. That’s nearly twice the space it currently inhabits. Considering there’s not a whole lot of time for market organizers to decide what to do with their suddenly increased footprint, I figured I’d give them some early suggestions:

• Open up the application process. Place regular vendors in the center, where they are now, and allow spaces for new individuals and businesses to set up shop on a rotating basis around the outside.

• Set up a seating area. Downtown businesses put out benches at the Thursday Night Market—maybe they’d be willing to do the same on Saturday. It’s free advertising for them and it makes for more comfortable enjoyment of tamales and other delights for patrons.

• Put the seating area next to a small “stage,” which would give the often-talented street performers a true venue to play.

I’d love to hear what suggestions readers have for an expanded market. Send your ideas to meredithg@newsreview.com.

Also of note: Following my last column, in which I wrote about my love of cheese and a relative lack of good selections here in Chico, I received an unsolicited but not unwelcome cheese plate from Zucchini & Vine. I can’t believe I didn’t know they sold cheese! So, after you’ve gotten your fill of farmers’ market shopping, head two blocks down Second Street and check out the Z&V cheese counter. There’s a goat cheese there that even this nonlover of goat cheeses enjoyed, and they also have one of my all-time favorite cheeses, made from sheep’s milk and straight from France—Ossau-Iraty. Try some. You’ll thank me.