After a year of COVID-19 restrictions and protocols, late spring and summer farmers markets are preparing for their reopening in Northeast Georgia.
Among those, the Gainesville Farmers Market will reopen on Friday, May 28 for the first time this year, and the Braselton Summer Farmers kicks off on June 4.
For the Gainesville Farmers Market, in particular, the lead-up to this year’s opening has been a little more challenging than in previous years.
“We are basically rebuilding almost from scratch after last year,” Market Manager Steven Thomas said. “I lost a lot of vendors when we opened last year during COVID because the city asked me to just do food-related people.”
Thomas, who started the market 13 years ago, said this is not the first time he has had to rebuild the Gainesville Farmers Market.
In terms of vendors, Thomas is looking for people involved with cakes/cupcakes, southern baking, jams and jellies, woodworking, candles and much more.
If you are interested in becoming a vendor with the Gainesville Farmers Market, call or text Thomas at 678-943-4442.
In the meantime, while Thomas is working to rebuild his vendor list, there are still plenty of reasons to come visit the market every Friday night from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. on the Gainesville Square from May 28 through Oct. 1.
“We have three farmers based on our customer base size,” Thomas said on the vendors already lined up for this year. “Two of the farmers are from the Cleveland area … each of them has between 64 and 84 varieties of heirloom and regular produce.”
The third farmer focuses on pasture-raised beef and pork, according to Thomas. On top of fresh produce, other items available at the market include baked goods, fresh honey, peanuts and more.
“There’s a supreme difference between the kind of produce that you get in a grocery store … as opposed to somebody who picked it out of the ground yesterday, and is bringing it to the market today,” Thomas said.
For more information, visit the Gainesville Farmers Market website.
Just south of Gainesville, fresh produce will also soon be available at the Braselton Summer Farmers Market. While the Town of Braselton has a monthly, year-round farmers market, the weekly summer market kicks off Friday, June 4 and runs through August 20.
“The summer markets just have a completely different feel to them than the monthly markets,” Jessica Payne, downtown assistant for the town of Braselton and the new farmers market manager, said. “it’s nice to see a lot of people coming out and supporting local farmers, and bakers and the different small businesses.”
Payne said there are a few changes in the works for this year’s summer farmers market, the largest of which is a new program called market features. The first market feature will certainly be of interest to those who garden.
“We have invited the Master Gardeners out of Hall County, and they will have a booth as well,” Payne said. “You can just ask them anything about gardening.”
Aside from this, Payne said the Braselton Summer Farmers Market will also add live music for the first time.
Like the Gainesville Farmers Market, the Braselton Farmers Market offers a wide variety of goods, including fresh produce, baked goods, fresh roasted coffee and more.
Payne said the market is always looking for new vendors. Those interested can visit downtownbraselton.com to fill out an application.
You can visit the Braselton Summer Farmers Market from 4 to 7 p.m. starting June 4, on the Davis Street side of the Braselton Brothers building next to the town green.
