Archive for the 'Farmers Markets' Category
We’ve visited a lot of Farmers Markets since moving to Chicagoland and our favorite is still the Skokie Farmers Market.
It isn’t as big as Evanston’s. And it’s not as good for people watching as Deerfield’s. It isn’t as close as Glenview’s or even Northbrook’s. It’s not as ‘interesting’ as Wilmette’s French Market.
It’s just a basic, small, Farmers Market. Open on Sundays (which might be part of why we like it…)
Last Sunday, it was a little disconcerting though. Some of the vendors were set up in the “wrong” spots! That totally threw us off. Vendors should set up in the same place every time, darn it.
I’ve never met a Botanical Garden I really loved. I’ve visited quite a few and while they were nice to visit, I never felt compelled to go back. That all changed with a visit to the Chicago Botanic Garden and boy was that a shock.
Who would have guessed the arctic north would have such a wonderul place. Just a few miles from my house? And, as our fabulous tour guide said (over and over again) it’s all FREE! And we definitely intend to take advantage of the FREE! Pst, she really was fabulous. Great fun. The right type of attitude and personality for a tour guide. (More Videos of Chicago Botanic Garden, including a bunch of train shots.)
OK it’s only free if you don’t need to park a car. If you do need to park a car, it’s $20 a shot. Or if you don’t want to take one of the trams that carries you around the gardens. But, with a membership, the parking is FREE! And the trams come at a discounted price.
We did in fact buy a membership and we’re looking forward to many more visits this year - maybe even in the winter, when it’s snowy and icy.
The day we took my mom, we were there for hours and hours and we didn’t even make a dent in seeing everything - and we were exhausted. I think TW and I are going to make a spreadsheet and pick one piece of the garden to visit on each trip. That’s the only way to see everything. There’s just so much and it’s such a lovely place to visit.
The cafeteria isn’t great (but it has Wifi.) The library looks interesting but by the time we got there, we just wanted to sit in the air conditioning and rest for a bit. We were there during an orchid show and that was pretty interesting too.
We went back today, just me and TW, for the Farmer’s Market and that was nice. Small, only about 8-10 booths, including the Youth Garden kids who work at the Botanic Garden and sell the stuff they grow. I think we’ll probably sign up for a CSA box this fall… now that will be interesting.
Farmers market season is slow to return in the northwest suburbs but the Wilmette French Market is here. Since none of the other farmers markets we usually visit have resumed for the season and it’s a really nice day, we thought we’d give this one a try.
It’s a tiny little market but parking is plentiful, easy, and free. (Though not enough handicap spaces - actually, I didn’t see any handicap spaces.)
The prices seemed a wee bit higher than the markets we visited last year - is that normal or is it the increased price of everything this year?
Bleeding Heart
I don’t usually find many pieces of jewelry, at markets, that I consider buying but in this little market, I saw several pieces that I liked for various members of the family. Again, they were a wee bit higher in price than I’d like but… I think I’ll be back and I think I’ll buy.
When the Farmers Market season ended in October, we thought it really ended - we had no idea there were Winter Farmers Markets in Chicagoland. Huh.
We headed to St John Episcopal Church in Irving Park to check it out.
Cute little church. We found parking on the street, pretty easily. The sidewalks hadn’t been shoveled in some areas so wheelchair maneuvering wasn’t easy. And then we discovered this church is not wheelchair accessible. Ugh.
TW’s mom managed the three stairs down to the tiny little basement but it was touch and go for awhile (and getting back up the stairs after we were finished shopping was no walk in the park either.)
We were picturing a full banquet hall type of thing and instead found ourselves in a tiny classroom sized basement room with about a dozen tables - and not a winter veggie in sight.
There were tables with yarn and roving. A table or two with cheese. A nun selling pastries. A mushroom vendor. A couple of soap vendors. Did I mention there were no winter veggies?
It was interesting but I don’t think we’ll make much of an effort to visit the others on the winter farmers market circuit. I think we can wait for spring.