Seasons are all relative at the Concord Winter Farmers' Market

By Tim Goodwin - Dec 10, 2013 | 0 comments

The winter farmers market was abuzz on Saturday with customers buying up recently picked veggies, soups, baked beans and our favorite, fresh donuts.

Do you like hot sauce? Well if the answer is yes, then there is plenty of varieties to chose from each Saturday and it might just help you get through the cold months ahead.

Kyle Michaud serenaded the crowd with his one-man band approach and the Santa hat added a nice touch.

Cindy Canane of Cascade Brook Farm weighs out some tasty looking Black Angus beef.

Not only does the Concord Winter Farmers’ Market have human food, but it also has stuff for your favorite four-legged friend.

Mmmm . . . donuts.

Just don’t follow too close on the way back, Breakwind serves beans.

Want to make us a pie?

Think of all the pancakes you could enjoy with that amount of maple syrup.

Fresh vegetables in winter? We know it does not seem possible, but somehow they appear each week at the farmers market.

Look at all those jellies and jams to sample.

Cathy Berry of Chichester Country Store makes a new friend by giving Louissa Poisson, 3, a donut.

It may be cold everywhere else, but the inside of Cole Gardens’s greenhouse will remind you of summer each Saturday this winter.

No, they have not figured out how to maintain a warmer climate in the space that mimics that of a July afternoon. Instead, it is the fresh vegetables, familiar faces and the sweet smells of delicious baked goods that bring you back to the time when being outside did not require a heavy jacket, a knit hat and questioning your decision to live where you live.

“It’s cold outside, it could be snowing, but you walk into the greenhouse and you feel alive again,” said Charlie Cole, owner of Cole Gardens.

For the last five years, Cole Gardens has been home to Concord’s Winter Farmers’ Market. It’s where people go to pick up those fresh foods they enjoy at a time of year when nothing is expected to have that straight-from-the-ground flavor.

“I pick everything the day before,” said David Ayers of Lewis Farm in Concord. “We have different seasonal things. Some crops can stand up to the cold better. And the seasonal things are what differentiate the two markets.”

“It’s a foody community here in Concord, and a lot of our summer customers come here,” said Ed Canane, owner of Cascade Brook Farm in North Sutton, which sells Black Angus beef.

What started as a once-a-month experiment between January and March has grown (no pun intended) into something that allows for Concord to have farmers markets most of the calendar year. In years past, when the summer market came to a close at the end of October, shoppers had to wait weeks before they could pick up their fresh produce straight from the source.

“Most of my customers here are the same ones I see during the summer. Eighty-five percent of what I sell is repeat customers, and that’s a low estimate,” said Christopher Evans of Granite Ledge Coffee in Canterbury. “And this is a great way to connect with the public directly.”

Last year, Cole began holding the winter market during the month of December, but decided to start earlier this year. With the garden center’s business slowing down during the month of November and a request from vendors to open immediately following the conclusion of the summer season, Cole gave it a shot.

“Vendors were asking to open it earlier, so we figured we’d give it a try,” said Cole. “Its been a nice transition.”

The winter season started with 20 vendors for the first month and is now at 18 until January. But it is not due to a lack of interest in the market. Rather, it is because Cole needs half of the greenhouse to store and display his poinsettias and other holiday greenery prior to Christmas. Then, once the New Year hits, the number of local farmers will rise to 33 as the market expands to using the entire greenhouse through the end of the season in mid-April. Just think of all the stuff you can buy.

“There’s a lot of regulars who come every week,” said Cole. “They come looking for that local food.”

The vegetable list includes mixed greens and spinach, potatoes, brussels sprouts and carrots, as well as apples on the fruit side of things. There are soups, along with baked beans and baked goods, fresh donuts and coffee beans, hot sauces and jams, and a wide assortment of meat. Outside of an occasional soap or T-shirt, what you will find at the winter market is food, and lots of it.

“Nothing against crafts, but we wanted to keep it as edible, food-related as possible,” said Cole. “And you want a good selection of products.”

“What’s really important at a farmers market is the quality of the other vendors,” said Canane.”And here you have high-quality items.”

All the vendors are from the Granite State, and that’s the way Cole likes it.

“We try to keep it as local as possible,” said Cole. “And we try to find vendors that have new and different things that we don’t already have.”

“It’s a good location. We like that it’s local. We want to serve the community here,” said Ayers.

The market is open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Saturday, with the exception of Dec. 28, the only day it is closed for the season. And coming up on Dec. 21, you will have your last chance to hit up Santa for that last minute stocking stuffer idea. Old Saint Nick will be at the market from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

Also, starting in January, you will be able to use the market’s website, concordwintermarket.com, to pre-order items from your favorite vendor and pick them up at the next market.

“It’s good for the vendors because they’ll have an idea of what kind of sales they will have, and it’s good for the consumers because they will know what they want is there,” said Cole.

And that is how Cole wants it. He says three people need to be happy for the market to be a success – the vendors, the customers and of course, himself. Right now all three are an emphatic yes, and it’s probably because of all the chocolate and baked goods. No wait, that’s just why we’re happy.