MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's Note: The video above originally aired on KARE 11 on Feb. 17, 2022.
The first Minneapolis farmers market opens on Sat. April 23 to kick off the 2022 season.
The Farmers Market Annex in the city's downtown is part of the largest open air farmers market in Minnesota.
Customers can buy locally grown produce, freshly made food and handmade crafts from a multitude of specialty vendors.
While the Annex, located at 200 East Lyndale Ave North, will be the earliest to open, the other 18 Minneapolis farmers markets and mini-markets will be setting up shop over the next several weeks.
Check out the full schedule for 2022 to find out when markets open, browse locations and see if your local farmers market participates in a health program such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.
The Farmers Market Annex opens Saturday and runs through Oct. 30, 2022.
Employees want to remind customers:
- Regularly wash and sanitize your hands
- No dogs allowed at the market
- No smoking at the market
- Many vendors take both cash and credit
Last summer, farmers markets started seeing more customers as the pandemic waned, but harvests were impacted by extreme heat and a drought. Farmers saw a lot of produce at least two to four weeks behind schedule.
But other farmers found that while herbs and vegetables got pounded by the heat and drought, others did better than ever.
"Tomatoes are doing good,” Assistant Market Manager Sina Pleggenkuhle said last summer. "Peppers also like the heat."
Pleggenkuhle said most vine-ripening vegetables thrive in the heat. As long as farmers give them enough water, these types of vegetables do well.
Nearly 200 farmers sell their produce at the Minneapolis Farmers Market every week during the summer.