The 10th season of the Northwest Detroit Farmers’ Market gets underway Thursday, June 4, and this season is sure to be its best yet. Several returning vendors will be at the market this year as well as a few new ones. Artesian Farms, a vertical farm from Brightmoor, will be a first time Farmers’ Market vendor. Be sure to stop by Artesian Farms and ask Jeff Adams just how vertical farming works – he’ll be happy to tell you! Another new vendor is Detroit Farm and Garden, a full service landscaping company. They will be at the market for the first two Thursdays accepting orders for mulch, top soil and other home gardening needs. You can order your yard of mulch or top soil at the market and they will deliver it to your home later that week! You can also purchase a raised bed kit from Detroit Farm and Garden and they will show you how to put it together and get your raised garden off to a good start. Fresh eggs from chickens raised in Brightmoor will also be at the market, Greening of Detroit will be offering fresh cut flowers for the first time, and also new this year is the Northwest Detroit Farmers’ Market designation as a location for Meet Up and Eat Up, the United Way sponsored initiative to provide kids a nutritious meal at no cost all summer long. It’s been a couple of years since poultry farmer Karl Bauer has been a part of the Northwest Detroit Farmers’ Market, but he’s back and he will be offering locally raised and slaughtered turkey, chicken, beef, and pork. You will see either the new mobile coffee shop Drifter Coffee or Always Brewing Detroit at the Market too.  There will also be some outdoor yoga opportunities on Market Days, because exercise and relaxation are also important parts of staying healthy!

RETURNING VENDORS AND PROGRAMMING

Returning vendors include Good Medicine Farms, Beaverland Farms, the Eastern Market Food Stand, Grill Billies food truck with its delicious gourmet barbeque and grilled cuisine, and for dessert, the Detroit Pop Shop. Later in the season INTU Teas will return and once the kids from Detroit Food Academy finish their eight-week training on food entrepreneurship, they will be back at the Market selling baked goods. Several popular programs will also continue this year such as the Home Depot kids’ workshops, Henry Ford Health System’s Generation with Promise healthy food samplings, MSU’s workshops on how to blanch and freeze fresh produce, DMC Sinai Grace’s free health screenings, VIN etching, and much more! The Artists Markets are also back by popular demand and will be a part of the Farmers’ Market the last Thursday of each month, from June – September and a part of the Opening Day of the Market on June 4. The Artists Markets feature local artist wares such as handcrafted jewelry, scarves, pottery and soaps. Stop by the North Rosedale Park Community House, 18445 Scarsdale, any Thursday from now until October 1 from 4 – 8 pm to pick up your fresh and locally grown produce, or fresh cut flowers, or some locally raised chicken, and simply to say hello to your neighbors.