"When we were kids we would drive out to Greenacres and the Valley with family on Sundays to buy fresh produce. There is something special about that kind of experience. That is the kind of feeling we wanted to create for the Market.

We knew it was going to be a “throw it out there and see what happens” situation. The first year we just hoped the farmers and other vendors would show up!"

I’ve been interested in farmers markets all my life and the role they can play in improving the social fabric of a community or neighborhood. The role model for this really came from the Seattle Neighborhood Markets, particularly the University market in the U-District. These types of markets not only support local farming and access for the neighborhood to healthy, quality food but also create the opportunity to become a gathering place for the neighborhood.We wanted to create something with easy access that you could walk to, ride a bike to and so on.

The first year was really about feasibility. Could we find the right location, find sufficient vendors and most importantly … how would the community respond. We were very fortunate to get a good group of core vendors at the beginning and the community responded almost immediately.