Bailey Borkowski
The Ramspondents
Fort Collins’ farmers market season never stops, with multiple markets in the summer and one in the winter, Fort Collins residents can get artisanal goods all year long. Winter markets are rare in Colorado and Fort Collins is one of the only places that people can visit to get their farmers market fix in the colder months.
Many vendors travel to Fort Collins just to sell their product, one example is Kream Kimchi. Owner Virgin Dickerson has been traveling up to Fort Collins for four years to sell his product.
“A lot of us don’t shut our businesses after the summer markets and we keep making things so we need a place to sell,” Dickerson said. “It’s a win-win for everybody because I was talking to the chocolate maker and he said it brings in foot traffic that they don't get the rest of the week.”
Between the summer and winter markets, there are obvious differences, such as the weather and being indoors instead of outdoors, but even clientele and vendors change in the winter months.
Alaveah Giarruss from Morning Fresh Dairy reflects on some of the differences she sees, “This one has a lot more crafts and the other ones have a lot more food.”
“I see people at the winter market that I only see here, they never come to the summer ones and vice versa,” Dickerson said.
That’s not just the differences, vendors get to know one another better and vendors never know when they’ll have a rush.
“You get to know your partner vendors a lot better because you’re not working as much, so there is a lot more time for chatting,” Giarruss said.
Austin Bressler, the owner of Unity Butter, says he has trouble knowing when the rushes come during the winter market.
“Summer markets are busier earlier and then taper off as the day goes on” Bressler said. “ This one is hard to pin down. Sometimes it pops in the morning then it slows down if it's backed up, or today for example, very slow start then busier as the day went over.”
Even with the variety of differences, most vendors prefer the summer markets, but no matter the differences vendors encourage people to buy from small businesses.
“When you’re supporting a local business, you’re supporting your local community,” Dickerson said. “If you support the local kimchi business or the local cookie business, they stick around and you get things that don't have a million preservatives. If you go to the store you are getting the worst version of that product.”
“It’s really important that things like this continue to keep small businesses alive, I encourage everybody to buy local,” Bressler said.
Bailey Borkowski is the station manager at CTV 11 and a journalism student at Colorado State University who focuses on reporting the full and accurate truth and keeping the Fort Collins community informed.