May 5, 2009

Farmers market to sprout weekly near Dauch

Fresh fruits and vegetables will be among the offerings this summer when a farmers market opens once a week in a parking lot on the south side of campus.

Local Indiana growers and merchants will be on hand at the market, sponsored by Purdue Physical Facilities, at the corner of Sheetz and Wood streets, just west of Dick and Sandy Dauch Alumni Center. The market will operate 3-6:30 p.m. Thursdays from June 4 through Aug. 13.

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.

Michele Wing, human resource specialist in the Physical Facilities human resource office, worked with Greater Lafayette Commerce and with Purdue Housing and Food Services and Business Services to bring the market to the West Lafayette campus.

"One of our strategic initiatives is wellness and to increase the awareness of wellness opportunities for our physical facilities staff," Wing said. "When we started exploring the idea of a farmers market on campus, I realized it was something that could benefit the entire campus."

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. 31 on Fifth Street between Main and Columbia streets in downtown Lafayette. When the Purdue market closes for the season, the Lafayette market will open at 4-7 p.m.
Thursdays.

* Sagamore West Farmers Market. Open 3-6:30 Wednesdays May 6-Oct. 28 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/departments/parksandrec/farmers%20market.htm