Penticton Farmers’ Market ready for new season
Ten seasons as a vendor in the Penticton Farmers’ Market have only helped grow Patti Lemare’s passion for the weekly ritual.
The owner of Patti’s Plants has been eagerly awaiting Saturday’s start of the season at the new-look market, where she’ll offer all manner of garden-starters, including strawberries, vegetables, squash and bedding plants.
Lemare raised all of them in the 75-square-metre greenhouse in the backyard of her Penticton home, where she happily spends close to six hours every day tending to her plants during the growing season.
Besides seeing the people and the vendors every week at the market, she also enjoys the rhythm.
“You start getting ready on Thursday for Saturday, and then Sunday is usually my day to just play in my own yard, and then Monday start doing it all over again,” Lemare said.
Besides getting product ready for this Saturday, she’s also been busy asking customers to be patient as they navigate the new setup of the market, prompted by the recent revitalization of the 100 block of Main Street.
Market manager Erin Trainer said the work narrowed the top half of the street near City Hall, meaning vendors will no longer be able to park their vehicles behind their stalls there.
Those who absolutely need vehicles to store product — like flats of fruits and vegetables — have been relocated to the wider part of the street closer to the lake. The main stroll down the middle of the street will also be narrower.
“It has been a challenge, but we’ll adapt and we’ll see how it goes,” said Trainer, who noted the new link road between Main and Martin streets at the southern edge of Gyro Park will also provide additional space when the busy season hits.
For the first few markets, at least, Trainer expects all the vendors to be accommodated on Main Street, where they’ll sell mostly bedding plants, baked goods, coffee, wine, crafts and root vegetables from cold storage.
The supply of fresh produce, she explained, has been constrained by the late arrival of the growing season.
“For example, last year we had a whole bunch of asparagus by now and asparagus hasn’t even come up this year yet,” said Trainer, who nonetheless expects the social element of the market to be in full bloom.
“Just seeing the street full, seeing the familiar faces, that means a lot to the vendors, and it’s what contributes to the whole farmers’ market and why people go.”