Farmers market ready for second season in Bloomingdale

Grocery shopping has a different flavor to it in the summer, when farmers markets pop up like wildflowers.

Selecting fresh produce from a local farmer's table while neighbors mill around looking for unusual finds is a pleasure reserved for warm weather months.

Beginning June 15, the second annual Old Town Bloomingdale Farmers Market will offer shoppers just such an experience from 3 to 7 p.m. every Thursday through Sept. 28 at the northwest corner of Third Street and Schick Road. Admission is free.

Twenty-one vendors will offer locally-sourced fruits and vegetables, raw honey, cage-free eggs, meats, baked goods, sauces and jams in addition to jewelry and pet treats.

The effort to bring a farmers market to the village's Old Town vintage neighborhood began several years ago, said Barbara Weber, assistant village administrator.

“We finally were able to get it established in 2016. We got a lot of great vendors,” she said.

Among the sellers will be spice specialists, handmade jewelry sellers, and makers of alpaca yarn from Safehouse Farm Alpacas of Barrington. Two produce-sellers will be coming from Michigan; a third is based in Marengo. Another vendor will offer knife-sharpening services.

Saad's Bees, an Elgin-based company, will return to the market this year.

“We'll be selling honey products — liquid honey in a jar, comb honey, beeswax,” said David Saad, who runs the business with his wife, Phong.

The couple also sells lip balm and hand creams. They maintain 96 honeybee hives throughout the Fox Valley region.

“I've been doing it on and off for the last nine years,” Saad said.

He said he became interested in beekeeping after he and two family members took a class through the Geneva Park District.

He said bees collect nectar from clover, honeysuckle, black locust and linden trees.

“They'll fly up to a two-mile radius looking for a flower to get nectar from,” he said.

The resulting products go over well with farmers market customers.

“Most of them like the raw liquid honey. The flavor is different than any other stuff on the shelves,” Saad said.

Weber said a few changes are coming to the market this year in response to customer demand.

She said ready-made meals to eat on-site at the market will be added this year, along with several picnic tables, provided by Bloomingdale Park District, to accommodate on-the-spot diners. Choices will include sub sandwiches, crepes, brats and artisan breads.

Local performers will provide musical entertainment on the Market Sound Stage provided by St. Paul's Evangelical Church, she said.

Bloomingdale Park District and Bloomingdale Public Library personnel and other community groups will present demonstrations and kids' activities, she said.

Second annual Old Town Bloomingdale Farmers Market

<b>When:</b> 3 to 7 p.m. Thursdays, June 15 through Sept. 28

<b>Where:</b> Parking lot at northwest corner of Third Street and Schick Road, Bloomingdale

<b>Admission:</b> Free

<b>Info:</b> <a href="http://www.villageofbloomingdale.org">villageofbloomingdale.org</a>