Sugar House Farmers Market is the little market that could.
After two years at the old Sugar House Monument Plaza starting in 2010, the market was displaced by construction and moved to Sugar House Park for two years followed by a stint at Sugarmont Plaza. Now, for the 2016 market season this incredible community market has found a new home on a new night in Fairmont Park.
A resilient market with the community fully involved and dedicated to it’s success the market has seen a surge of interest now that it is located on the great lawn by the Fairmont Aquatic Center. I visited the market with Jennifer Williamson and Amy Buchanan who are both volunteering to make the market a success.
“We really didn’t want to see the market go away. At the end of last year, with so many changes in the board, it wasn’t a sure thing. So a group of community members got together to revitalize it” said Buchanan. The first thing they decided was to move it back into a park, but this go around Fairmont. With plenty of shade and parking it seemed like the ideal choice. They also opted to switch to a mid-week Wednesday night market instead of the original Friday night.
Walking through the market, things were bustling, but not over-crowded. I met the owner of Dewdrop Herbal Tea Co, Amy Dewey who shared her favorite relaxation blend of tea. Literally called, ‘The Favorite’ it is a sweet mix of chamomile, lavender and lemongrass. Some of her other blends like the ‘Strawberry Lemonade’ and the ‘Tropical Sunrise’ might just become my favorites too.
I visited with Wendy Butters from Polka Bean. She makes sweet and savory snack beans (think salted or sweet nuts, but made with pinto beans or garbanzo beans), along with delicious marinated beans that are ready to eat or can be added to salads.
I’m a huge fan of citrus curds, and I was delighted to find Indulge Eats at the market. Owner, Emily Park is a missionary for teaching people how to use this sweet treat. She regularly brings traditional lemon and lime curd to the market, also with grapefruit and orange curd.
Emily also has some out of this world caramels and pillowy marshmallows.
One more stop was at The Bean Hole for a nitro iced coffee. Roast Master Jed Matthews had been doing small batch roasted coffee for over 9 years. His blends work particularly well for cold brew.
Several of other companies worth mentioning, Fizzbloom, The Polarican, Salsa del Diablo are all must stops on my list for this market.
Set aside some time Wednesday evenings from 5 pm – 9 pm to visit the Sugar House Farmers Market at Fairmont Park.
