A new farmers market is opening in Springfield this weekend. Springfield Community Gardens will run the Cherry Street Market next to the Sleepy Opossum near Cherry and Pickwick.
SCG Founder Maile Auterson said it will be open on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
"It'll be every Sunday, which there aren't really many Sunday markets in town, and a lot of people do their grocery shopping on Sunday we found out by doing surveys," she said. So, yeah, it's a, it's just a perfect spot to stop by in the morning and grab some vegetables and enjoy the neighborhood."
She said the farmers who will be selling at the Cherry Street Market are part of their farm school. This will give them the chance to practice selling. SCG will also sell produce grown on their farms in Springfield.
The market will be located on a lot that's currently empty. Auterson said the owners "graciously" offered it to them to use on a trial basis because they were interested in supporting a nonprofit.
The market will 100% benefit farmers because she said, as a nonprofit, they don't charge a mark-up to use the space.
Farmers need more access to markets, according to Auterson, and she said SCG strongly believes in place making, "so putting a small farmers market...nestled into a neighborhood is exactly who we are and what we represent."
She said they already have a small market garden at the Fairbanks and at Osage Prairie on Fremont.
"We like these smaller spaces where we can talk about what we eat and grow local food and provide access to healthy food for our neighbors," she said.
She called the market a great community builder, especially since nearby residents will be able to walk to the site to buy produce.
It builds networks and relationships, and it just really does put us right in a pocket to meet our neighbors with new farmers, right? Because it's very important for us to know where our food comes from and how hard the farmers work to grow it and what their growing methods are," she said.
She said almost everything that we have at the market will be...certified naturally grown or naturally grown, "and I just think it's a great way to talk about how we grow our food as a community and what our expectations are and, you know, what goes into our bodies and how healthy we can be if we eat healthy."
