We have some great local businesses around here and one of the best places to spot them all is at a farmer’s market. I was surprised by how many farmer’s markets locally I’d never been to so I started to cross some off of the list.
The Saratoga Farmer’s Market started in 1978 in the Spring Street parking lot, Saratoga Springs. Plans for the market were discussed at Saratoga County Extension Service, now known as Cornell Cooperative Extension. After many days of being rained out, many were discouraged by the lack of attendance. They didn’t give up. Fast forward to the 2000s, and from 2009 to 2013, our winter market was held at Division Street Elementary School, just a few blocks west of Broadway. Beginning in November 2013, the market’s winter market moved to the Lincoln Baths building at Saratoga Spa State Park at 65 South Broadway.
The next question was what to do about the Wednesday market. Starting November 6, the first winter market returns to the Wilton Mall food court, from 9:30 am – 1:30 pm, where it will take place weekly until the end of April. The Wednesday Saratoga Farmer’s Market has more than 50 vendors, you can find them all on their website.
They have great farm products like Argyle Cheese Farmer, Ballston Lake Apiaries, Lovin Mama Farm, Nettle Meadow, Saratoga Apple, etc. Some local businesses offer their products like Mean Max Brew Works (Glens Falls), Yankee Distillers (Clifton Park), Boozy Moo (Albany), Mrs. London’s (Saratoga), Saratoga Chocolate (Saratoga), etc.
We picked up some beer from Mean Max Brew, I loved being able to taste it ahead of time again since COVID. I got a fantastic artichoke sourdough bread from Night Work Bread (Saratoga), and of course, we had to pick up treats to bring home for the dog from Mugzy’s Bakery (East Greenbush). For a snack, we each had one of Petra’s Pocket Pies (Wilton) that I’m not obsessed with and would’ve grabbed something from Euro Delicacies (Schenectady) that smelt amazing but they were running low. So many great options to eat and bring home if you’re in the area, give it a try!
The Saratoga Farmers’ Market will be open on Saturdays from 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. from November through April. The market will be in the Wilton Mall Food Court, accessible from the TrustCo mall entrance, across from BJs, or the mall interior. The CDTA’s routes 450 (from Schenectady) and 452 (from Skidmore College via downtown Saratoga) run to the Wilton Mall at least once an hour on Saturday mornings.
