Demand for fresh food packs farmers markets
Foodies, the health conscious and shop-local enthusiasts, have two local farmers markets to visit when on the hunt for fresh fruits and vegetables.
The Farmers Market on Grand Parkway is open from 8 a.m. to noon every Saturday, rain or shine, at the Church of the Holy Apostles, 1225 West Grand Parkway South in Katy.
The Fulshear Farmer’s Market at FM 1093 at Bois d’Arc, occurs from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday. Market on the parkway
The market on the parkway recently celebrated its second year at its current location, according to the event’s manager John Carey.
“The market itself has been around for a number of years, but we’ve had multiple locations,” he said.
The current spot offers visibility on Grand Parkway and room to expand vendor offerings.
“For us, it’s all about supporting the Katy community and all the folks right around here,” Carey said. “We’ve been able to generate a loyal customer base. It’s more of a family than anything else.”
Shoppers come to spend the morning and chat with vendors, consult with farmers about recipes for freshly harvested produce and talk to neighbors over coffee and fresh baked goods.
“We’re a producer’s market,” Carey said. “It’s the people who have grown the crops, raised the animals, baked the goods — or a vendor who represents the people who do. We want local, sustainably grown products. If it wasn’t picked at
4 or 5 a.m. before the market, than it was picked the night before.’
The freshness translates to higher vitamin content and better flavor, he said.
“You can visit with the farmers and understand exactly where your food comes from,” Carey said. “It’s a chance to get a good education.” Fulshear market
Ramona Ridge started the Fulshear market as part of her nonprofit organization, Forever Fulshear.
Like a number of area residents, she lives on acreage.
“We would call each other, begging our neighbors to take extra tomatoes or zucchini,” she said. “I thought, ‘How can we share with everybody?’ ”
Once Ridge found the space to host the market, the endeavor immediately took off.
“People around here were really excited about it,” she said. “We opened with 16 booths. Now every weekend, we have between 25 to 30 vendors.”
Ridge said the average attendance is around 500 but that some weekends have brought in thousands of shoppers.
“The majority of the growers are organic,” Ridge said. “We have pasture-raised eggs, grass-fed beef — all the things people are looking for.”
Customers enjoy talking to the farmers about the products.
“There’s a lot of mistrust about what’s in our groceries these days,” Ridge said.
She believes shoppers can taste the difference in food sold at the farmers market.
“The vegetables taste the way they’re supposed to, rather than just looking good,” she said. “Once you taste it, you get it. I can’t even eat eggs from the grocery store anymore.”
Ridge added that shopping at the farmers market supports the local economy. Vendors come from a 200-mile radius.
“It’s been a boon in our economic development out here,” she said. “When I first started asking vendors to come out, they’d ask, ‘Fulshear where?’ Now we get people from all over who come out. They make a day trip out of it. They drive out to the country for a Saturday.”
The market is all foodrelated.
“There are no crafts, and it’s not a flea market,” Ridge said. “It’s strictly food.”
Ridge said that the market is a way to meet likeminded neighbors.
“It’s a big social event for our neighborhood,” she said. “People come out, buy eggs, buy honey and chit-chat.”