Purdue Today

Farmers market extends schedule after successful debut

The Purdue Farmers Market will return this year with an expanded schedule.

The market will operate 3-6:30 p.m. Thursdays from May 6 through Oct. 28 at the corner of Sheetz and Wood streets, just west of Dick and Sandy Dauch Alumni Center.

"The market was a great success last year, and both vendors and patrons requested that we continue the market for the full season," says Michele Wing, human resource specialist in the Physical Facilities human resources office. The market started in June 2009.

Local Indiana growers and merchants will be on hand at the market, which is sponsored by Purdue Physical Facilities. Items expected at the market include fresh fruits and vegetables, baked goods, jams and jellies, fresh kettle-popped corn, homemade crafts, and annual and perennial plants.

The number of growers and amount of produce on a given day depends on the natural progression of the growing season. Wing says that the start of the season usually brings asparagus, cabbage, kale, lettuce, radishes and spinach.

The farmers market on campus will complement other markets that operate in Lafayette-West Lafayette.

Those markets and their hours:

* Lafayette Farmers Market. Open 7:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tuesdays and Saturdays May 1 to Oct. 30 on Fifth Street between Main and Columbia streets in downtown Lafayette.
   
* Sagamore West Farmers Market. Open 3-6:30 Wednesdays May 5-Oct. 27 at Cumberland Park on Salisbury Street, West Lafayette.
   
More information about the Lafayette Farmers Market, including a produce calendar indicating what's in season each month, is at www.lafayettefarmersmarket.com. Or visit the West Lafayette Market at www.westlafayette.in.gov/department/division.php?fDD=8-164.