Last Saturday Tom and I visited the Uptown Westerville Farmers Market for the first time.  I’ve always loved the idea of Farmers Markets.  It makes me think of old-time market days where everyone in a village goes to the market to sell or buy.  In my imagination, you can buy the freshest produce or yummiest baked goods at a Farmers Market.  The best one I’ve been to in Ohio is the Hartville Farmers Market which is an indoor and outdoor blend of produce, food trucks, and other eclectic offerings.

The Uptown Westerville Famers Market is not as large as the Hartville Farmers Market.  But it was a very pleasant place to spend an hour on a beautiful Saturday morning.  The Uptown Westerville Farmers Market is located in the parking area behind the Westerville City Hall.  There is plenty of parking, although you might have to patiently drive around a few blocks before you find an open spot.

We went there because I needed my good sewing shears sharpened.  In looking online for these services, I found a mobile sharpening service that would be at the Uptown Westerville Farmers Market two Saturdays in June.  The service was conveniently located and gave me a chance to check out the Farmers Market.  Tom and I headed to Uptown Westerville, found a place to park, and walked to the Farmers Market.

We were on the lookout for The Finest Edge, the mobile sharpening service, but we looked around a little bit before we found it.  Once we located The Finest Edge, we dropped off my shears and some knives to be sharpened and then took our time looking at the different booths.  The knife sharpening guy told us our items would be ready in about 30 minutes.

There were about 40 booths at the Uptown Westerville Famers Market, with about four of them selling produce.  The produce booths were very popular with people lined up patiently outside them.  There was an especially long line at the booth that had fresh strawberries.  Nothing better than fresh, just-picked strawberries!  There were also several booths selling home-baked goodies.  I kept trying to get Tom to split something with me, but he was being especially good at resisting temptation.  He even turned down a fresh donut at Donna’s Donuts Food Truck.

I enjoy seeing a variety of booths at Farmers Markets.  There were three meat (beef, pork, and chicken) booths.  I’m not sure about buying meat from a cooler at a Farmers Market, but all the booths had long lines.  I talked to the lady at the My Soaps booth for a few minutes.  Her father makes the soaps in Johnstown, Ohio.  He had one soap that was supposed to be especially healing for poison ivy rashes.  She was a great saleslady and engaged many people in conversation.

There was a booth for children’s games and two where children could participate in art projects.  The Westerville Library, the Westerville Lions, and a composting group all had booths.

After thirty minutes we headed back to The Finest Edge.  I paid for my newly sharpened shears and knives and we headed out.  I enjoyed supporting a local small business at the Uptown Westerville Farmers Market and the sharpening was reasonably priced.  Tom and I especially enjoyed seeing all the families supporting local small business and enjoying the beautiful morning together.

What is your favorite Farmers Market?  What do you hope to find when you go to a Farmers Market?