A Fresh Look At The Winter Farmers Market

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- How do you host a farmers market in the coldest months of the year? You put the growers and vendors inside.

"This is our first ever indoor market, and it's pretty successful. I think people are hungry for it right now," farmers market director Alex Cortes said.

This winter, for the first time, Bachman's partnered with the Fulton and Kingfield Farmers Markets to host a new "Fresh from the Freeze: Winter Farmers Market" inside Bachman's Lyndale Garden Center.

"People are craving this. They want to get out. You can't do that in the winter in Minnesota. You're almost in an outside environment here," Scott Hackbarth of St. Paul said.

The first winter farmer's market was held last month on Jan. 26, and it went off without a hitch.

Much like the summer farmers markets, you'll find local food and products. The biggest bonus unique to this winter market is wine and beer.

"We have local beer, wine and hard cider from Sweetland Orchard, who is one of our own apple vendors," Cortes said. "They aren't selling apples, but they are selling their cider."

Beyond the food and drinks, is the sense of togetherness that Minnesotans miss during the cold winter months.

"You know how as soon as winter hits, you don't see people until spring? It's the same with the market," Sunstreet Breads' Solveigh Tofte said. "Every single person I've talked to says they are desperate for a farmer's market and that they needed to get out of the house."

Round two of the winter farmer's market is Saturday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. If this one is successful, there's talk of another one in March.