The Dane County Farmers’ Market will hold its last outdoor market of the season on the Capitol Square Saturday before moving to the Monona Terrace for the next two months.
The iconic Madison event, the largest producer-only farmers’ market in the country, will return to the Capitol Square in mid-April, according to market manager Bill Lubing.
According to Lubing, the year was a success for vendors, despite a longer winter and drier summer.
“Overall it was a good year,” he said. “Probably not our best but certainly not our worst.”
John Lutz, owner of Lutz Family Farm, agreed with Lubing.
“The sales at the farmers’ market have been very good this year,” Lutz said.
Lutz got his start at the farmers’ market in the mid-1970s selling eggs with his mother and began selling goods at the market with his wife in the 1990s.
Even though this year was successful, Lutz said he plans on making some changes for next year.
“We probably will try to attend a little bit more, try to lengthen our season a little bit if we can,” he said.
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The farmers’ market will be held Saturdays until Dec. 20 at Monona Terrace, and after a week off will move to the Madison Senior Center Jan. 6. Vendors will return to the Capitol Square in April.
Though fewer vendors will attend the market in the winter, Lubing said the customers who attend the event tend to purchase more product and fewer are walking around just for the experience of the market.
“In the winter market, you’ve got people who are more serious about cooking and serious about supporting local agriculture,” he said.
All of the vendors at the market sell homegrown goods and all are from Wisconsin, Lubing said.
While at the senior center, the market will also include a breakfast prepared by local chefs using ingredients from vendors at the market. Lubin said the idea is to create recipes and information cards about the ingredients to get those who eat the meal to prepare similar meals in their homes.
“It’s the true definition of local,” he said. “The person behind the table is the one that grew it or raised it.”
