The Hiawatha Farmers Market season will run from April 25^th through October 24^th, 2010.  The operating hours will be 11:00am to 3:00pm.  If you would like to be a season vendor, please fill out the Hiawatha Farmers Market Lease and Indemnity Agreement, available on our website under forms or you can pick them up at the market. You can attend any farmers market an hour ahead of time to complete the forms and get your stall assignment. Susie Stutterheim is our new Market Manager. She is available at (319) 373-8812, email: susiestutterheim@mail.com. It is the goal of Hiawatha Parks and Recreation to help you to expand your business. We look forward to working with you to make the Hiawatha Market our neighborhoods get together.

Farmers Markets

Shopping at a farmers' market is not the quite the same as shopping at a supermarket. You'll enjoy the experience more and get a lot more out of it -- more than you're expecting, perhaps -- if you keep a few things in mind. You'll find the summer's best fresh fruits and vegetables, just-picked flowers, fresh from the oven breads and pastries, jams, honey and one of-a-kind arts and crafts by local artisans.

Here's your guide to the market:

Knowing how your food was grown and buying fresher, tastier, sustainably-raised food that supports your local farmers is balanced with some things you might at first see as disadvantages: it takes longer, some items might be more expensive (especially at certain times of year), and you can't always find exactly what you're looking for. But after a while you'll see that these are actually advantages, too. When you spend more time shopping, you start know the farmer and the food better. When you pay a fair price for food, you tend to start eating in a way that is sustainable (and healthier.) When you don't find what you were looking for, you may broaden your food choices and discover new food items you may not have used before. Shopping the farmers' market is part of an entirely different way of looking at your food, one that allows you to become part of the process rather than simply being the end-consumer.

And another idea - develop relationships: If you visit a market regularly, you'll see the same farmers over and over. Some farmers change their planting plans in response to requests from regular customers. If you'd love to be able to find a certain item at the farmers' market, tell a farmer! You'll be much more likely to see it in his stall next year if you've developed a relationship with him this year.

Hiawatha's Farmers Market is offered on Sundays 11 am - 3 pm at the 10^th Avenue parking lot of Guthridge Park.

Greetings Farmers Market Vendors,