A time-tested tradition sows new seeds in Dinkytown.
Some vendors at the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market have furnished city dwellers with harvest spoils for almost two decades.
Country pleasures typical of the popular downtown market, such as sweet corn, flowers and home-buzzed honey will spill into the University area today.
The second of three Friday farmer’s markets hits Dinkytown streets today from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Organizers said the heat kept many people indoors and away from last week’s local market, which featured fruit, vegetables, cheese and bedding plants.
But vendors tasted moderate success, they said, and want to come back.
“Nobody got rich, but vendors saw how many people walked through Dinkytown,” said Skott Johnson, an event coordinator and marketing chair of the Dinkytown Business Association. “We considered it a success.”
Eileen Vescio, another organizer and local merchant, said the market aids area business.
“It always helps when you have foot traffic,” Vescio said.
With enough consumer interest and a little luck getting extended licensure from Minneapolis, event organizers from the Dinkytown Business Association hope the market will continue throughout the summer.
The first Dinkytown Farmer’s Market lured only five vendors — truly dinky in comparison to the bustling Nicollet Mall Farmer’s Market, which runs from early May to late October.
Even the Minneapolis market started slowly, said vendor Phil Klein, so a low turnout in Dinkytown didn’t surprise him.
Klein sold his Poplar Hill Goat Dairy Products last week at a sidewalk stand near McDonald’s on Fourth Street Southeast.
Dinkytown’s market is new, he said, and will just take time to increase in popularity.
Klein said he also expects more vendors and customers as vegetables come into season.
For now, people cruising Dinkytown streets can observe some unfamiliar faces pushing produce on passersby.
“Once people understand that there’s a farmer’s market there, they’ll come,” Klein said.