Perpetual harvest

The Allan Street Farmers Market takes over the Allan Neighborhood Center parking lot during the summer months, but when the weather gets colder the vendors move indoors for the Allan Market Place.

Smells of warm soup and fresh bread, served up by East Lansing Food Co-op, greet market visitors on a cold Wednesday afternoon. Jazzy clarinet music streams from AMP’s loft. The most important element of a farmers market is, of course, the food. And there is plenty.

“A lot of people don’t realize you can still get fresh produce in the winter,” said Kate Heflick.

Heflick, 26, is manning the table for Foodshed Farm, a certified organic farm in Bath. Foodshed Farm uses hoophouses to grow spinach and salad greens through the winter. Customers looking for fresh greens need to act fast though. The table was already sold out when I stopped by at 5 p.m. (The market opens at 3.)

“It’s a shame there aren’t more people winter gardening,” said Heflick. 

At a nearby table, Steve Grose looks out over a cornucopia of beans, potatoes, garlic and onions. The 57-year-old Onondaga resident owns Green Eagle Farm, a small farm dedicated to “practicing sustainability and permaculture.” Despite the bounty available at his table, Grose said many people don’t think about going to farmers markets in the winter.

“They don’t realize that we have things stored that we can sell all winter,” he said.

While fresh fruits are scarce, many other farmers market staples are still available through the winter. Vendors are selling fresh breads, baked goods, coffee beans and meat products.

Lizy Ferguson, manager of the Allan Street Farmers Market, thinks that public awareness is the biggest hurdle for winter markets.

“I talk to people all the time who don’t even know we have an indoor market,” she said.

Ferguson said the market pulls in 900 customers per day during the peak of the summer season. In the winter, that number dips significantly. This winter they are averaging close to 200 customers per day.

“Last winter we averaged 100 per day,” she said. “It’s definitely growing.”

Despite the decrease in foot-traffic, Ferguson finds that the vendors are happy to be open through the winter.

“We give them an opportunity to sell when otherwise there wouldn’t be one,” she said. “Most of the winter vendors are regular summer vendors, and they jumped at the chance to sell through the winter.”

The Holt Farmers Market, which is open every Saturday, recently made the transition to a year-round market. Housed in the former Delhi Township Fire Department building, the market is in the middle of its first winter season.

At its summer peak, the Holt Farmers Market hosts nearly 30 vendors, spilling out into the parking lot. In the winter, their indoor space hosts a more modest 15 vendors. Chuck Grinnell, market manager, has noticed a drop in foot traffic, but not as drastic as the drop at Allan Street.

“We’re getting 60 to 70 percent of the foot traffic we get in the normal season,” he said.

For Grinnell, making the transition to a year-round market was an easy decision.

“We have vendors — bakers and butchers, for example — whose product demands they sell every week,” he said. “Since we have the building, we decided to move forward with a year-round market.”

A handful of other Greater Lansing farmers’ markets are open through the winter. Downtown’s Lansing City Market is open year-round. A few area markets without permanent buildings find temporary homes for through the cold months. The Bath Farmers Market moves into the Bath Community Center for the winter months, and the Meridian Township Farmers Market takes up residence near JCPenney inside the Meridian Mall.

Winter farmers markets

Allan Street Farmers Market 3-6:30 p.m. Wednesdays Allan Market Place 1629 E. Kalamazoo St., Lansing (517) 367-2468, allenmarketplace.org/ farmers-market/

Holt Farmers Market 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays 2150 Cedar St., Holt (517) 268-0024, holtfarmersmarket.org

Bath Farmers Market 3-6 p.m. Thursdays Bath Community Center 5959 Park Lake Road, Bath (515) 994-0236, shopbfm. org

Meridian Township Farmers Market 10 a.m.-2 p.m. First and third Saturdays of the month Meridian Mall, JCPenney corridor 1982 West Grand River Ave., Okemos (517) 712-2395, meridian. mi.us

Lansing City Market 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday- Friday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday; closed Sunday and Monday 325 City Market Drive, Lansing (517) 483-7460 ext. 234, lansingcitymarket.com