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Saturday Farmers Markets: I Got Around, Round, I Got Around
- Bob Benenson
- 15 minutes ago
- 3 min read
Three Stops, One Delivery, Four Different Stories
This is the first week this year in which there are weekday outdoor markets, providing you and me with multiple options. So I probably won't again pack as much into one day as I did this past Saturday (May 2), when I made three market stops (and received one home produce delivery).
Here's how that went.
GREEN CITY MARKET LINCOLN PARK
As the photo above illustrates, Saturday morning at Green City Market couldn't have been prettier. A bit chilly, but look at that bright blue sky and those fully leafed-out trees.
The big new-in-season news of the day was the arrival of hothouse grown heirloom tomatoes at the stand of Nichols Farm & Orchard (Marengo, Illinois). Until a few years ago, indoor grown tomatoes were a big shrug. But improvements in hoophouse and hothouse growing by experts such as the farmers at Nichols have been game changers. They may not yet be at the level of field tomatoes at their summer peak, but they make a darn good substitute while we wait.
I spent the most time at Green City. Here are some looks at the first weekend of May's vendors.
CHICAGO NETTLEHORST FRENCH MARKET
As we've reported before, the French Market pop-ups around Chicago metro are hybrid markets: some food, some clothes, some crafts. Chicago's Nettlehorst French Market, which takes place Saturdays at a school just a few blocks from where I live, had no produce during the first two weeks of their 2026 season.
But that changed Saturday. And I was happy to see that the stand belongs to my friends at Los Rodriguez Farm (Eau Claire, Michigan), a family-run business known at several Chicago area markets for their beautiful produce and friendly customer service. (Los Rodriguez makes another appearance below).
It's also nice to have Stamper Cheese, a Chicago-based broker of mostly Wisconsin cheeses, so close to home. I bought some buttermilk blue and 3-year-old cheddar at this stop.
THE LINCOLN PARK FARMERS MARKET
Those busy folks at Los Rodriguez Farm also made their season debut at The Lincoln Park Farmers Market, located less than a mile west of Green City Market.
But my main reason for this stop was to capture a moment. On the left in the photo is Jake Tepperman, founder of Chicago Food Rescue, which collects surplus food from grocery stores, restaurants and farmers markets and delivers it directly to social service organizations that in turn distribute the food to those in need. On the right is Elsa Jacobson, the market's longtime manager, who is likely familiar to regular Local Food Forum readers.
I met Jake a couple of months ago when I interviewed him and his colleague Hannah Roucher for an article, and I was present in April when Jake received a Climate Action Hero Award from Chicago's Climate Action Museum. I connected Jake to Elsa when the market opened for the season on April 25, and on this past Saturday, Jake picked up food that might otherwise have gone to waste.
It was mostly bread, as the market doesn't yet have its full complement of produce farms, but that will change.
THREE SISTERS GARDEN
Last but not least, I received a home delivery from my friend Tracey Vowell of Three Sisters Garden in Kankakee, Illinois. Tracey is have a banner spring for greens, which is adding to my healthy meals at home.
Clockwise from left, young romaine lettuce, young Siberian kale, Swiss chard (with those beautifully colorful stems) and lamb's quarters, a plant, long dismissed by many as a weed, which is tasty and highly nutritious.
I'm glad that the debut of weekday markets will make my Saturdays a little less crazy. What will be my first? I'm thinking maybe the opening of Lincoln Square's afternoon market this Thursday.
Click the button below to get our Farmers Market Tracker and make your own picks.