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Looking for some opinions on the two Durham Farmer's Markets...I'm talking about the one in the Pavilion at Durham Central Park at 501 Foster St (The Durham Farmers’ Market), and the one in Greenwood Commons (The South Durham Farmers’ Market).
Could you be a little more specific on the feedback you are looking for? Which one to frequent? Which has better food? Are you trying to become a vendor?
I haven't been to the South Durham Farmer's Market but I really like the one in Central Park...and I live in Raleigh! We only go occasionally on Saturday mornings but there are a very nice variety of vendors there, selling veggies, meats, cheese, bakery goods and other more "exotic" offerings than the State Farmer's Market in Raleigh although the Raleigh one is much bigger. There are plenty of organic offerings and usually lots of food trucks around. It's really quite a little happening scene on Saturday mornings. All our friends in Durham frequent that one weekly.
Both markets, like the Carrboro Farmer's Market (which has more of a hippie/organic vibe), require that the vendors come from within 50-70 miles of the market so you know they are local. My understanding (from my Durham foodie friends) is that the Durham Central Park Market really started to take off a few years ago partly because it was so difficult for new farms or vendors to get into the Carrboro Farmer's Market so they went to Durham, which seemed to coincide with the move to the Central Park Pavilion.
Looking for opinions on each of them from the perspective of a shopper, not a vendor. Specific things at each that you liked and disliked. Recommendations regarding each of them, as well as comparison/contrast would be great for folks who really like to write...thanks for the comments thus far.
SDFM requires All the vendors must be w/in 50 miles of it. The honey we get there is from our zip code (27713), which is the same one as the market. How's that for close! It's certainly not as big as the one in Central Park, nor does it have the covered shelter or grassy areas, so not "pretty." SDFM doesn't want to be as big so it maintains more of a community feel. For now it's in a strip mall parking lot. The vendors have portable tents over them and there's a good variety of veggies, fruits, breads, flowers, etc., but it did get a little sparse in the dead of winter. You can see who/what at their website and subscribe to their newsletter. We enjoy it cos it's less than 5 minutes from our home and the Western Wake FM is about 15 minutes away too, which has a very big selection.
I go to both markets. The South Durham market is nice -- a reasonable variety of vendors, not over-crowded. I like running into neighbors there, and it's pretty quick to find what you're looking for. I mostly like it because it's just a short drive from my house, and will run there to pick up a couple of things if I'm pressed for time.
The Durham Farmer's Market is a full-morning destination experience for my family. Maybe 4x as many vendors as South Durham, not including the craft vendors and the food trucks. Oh, the food trucks. Any virtue that comes from the fresh produce is well-offset by duck fat fries, sausage sandwiches, pastries, and fancy coffee drinks. Just be ready for a wait -- I think it took us 20 min to order and 30 min to get our food last time we were there, depending on the truck. Oh, and Daisy Cakes just up the road. Now that it's in season there are typically multiple musicians and other forms of entertainment like kids' story and craft time, yoga, dance presentations, etc. The kids like to run around Toddler Valley (that little stretch past the bridge across the street from the market, with the climbable bird statue, etc) and explore the flower garden up the hill. The produce is good -- more variety and more likely to be organic/low-pesticide than the stuff at the Raleigh FM, less froo-froo than Carrboro. Several meat vendors, Chapel Hill Creamery, bakeries, plant vendors, etc. Great full-experience market.
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