Mill City Market

For my field trip experience, I visited the Mill City (winter) Farmers Market on Saturday, April 13th. 

Since it was still winter in Minnesota, the market was held inside the Mill City Museum. As a result, there weren't that many vendors and it was quite small. Instead of having a variety of fresh produce, there was a lot more baked goods and jarred fruits than one would expect.

 
 

 

 

I actually ran into Tim Page at one of the stands so I talked to him for a bit! He was selling some micro-greens that were grown using the aquaponic systems that he and Cherry Flowers discussed in class when we had them as panelists. He also had a variety of jarred goods--almost like a relish-- that he was selling that were made from last year's crops. Additionally, He had some cute little zucchini breads that were made from zucchini that was frozen from last year. Though I didn't buy any of his products, I thought they all looked delicious and so did the little boy next to me who was begging his mom for a zucchini bread. 

I looked at a couple of the stands that were selling meat and stuff and one thing that stood out to me the most was how much the eggs cost. At one of the stands, is was $5 per dozen eggs! I just payed $1.99 for 18 eggs at rainbow so the cost was a little unsettling to me. I understand that they are farm fresh and organic and all that, but they definitely aren't accommodating for a college student's budget.

I did end up buying a bavarian cream filled croissant to eat on my walk home and it was super delicious. So good in fact that I considered turning around and buying another one for my roommate. I decided that I would make the short trek over the river again with her later in the year so we could pick up more. 

Overall, I was a little underwhelmed with the market. I don’t know what I was expecting since it was still practically snowing out, but the selection and prices were not really what I had hoped for. I do think I will go check out the market again sometime this summer when it is in its full glory. I've heard good things about it in the past so I will definitely give it another try before I write it off.