On Saturday, November 2, the Prescott Farmers Market’s (PFM) hours shift for the winter season. The market will continue to take place in the Dignity Health-YRMC parking lot at 900 Iron Springs Road. Market hours will be from 9:30am to 12:30pm weekly, as weather permits, through March 2025. The market will be closed on November 30, the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
The market is a vibrant hub for the community, where farmers, artisans, and residents come together to celebrate and support local agriculture and small businesses. The market’s tagline is “See your neighbors. Meet your farmers. Know your food.”
PFM’s Director of Market Operations, JB Del Campo, in reflecting on his seven years overseeing the market, shared, “There is something unique about the winter season. It’s darker, colder, and headlamps are part of morning setup. The flow is different too. With a later start time, vendors trickle in one after another. The clicking of tents echo through the parking lot as the market comes alive. In the winter season, you find the die-hards, not just vendors but customers too. There’s a synchronization to it all that is amazing to watch and be part of. With the new season also comes new foods, new produce, and new treats that I can never get enough of.”
Photo: Winter vegetables
More than 30 vendors are expected to regularly attend the market this winter season. Customers can find a variety of agricultural goods, all grown/raised within Arizona, with the majority coming from Yavapai County: fresh vegetables, mushrooms, nuts, dates, citrus, dried flowers, lavender, bread, eggs, grass-fed beef and poultry. Local farmers grow a variety of cold-hardy vegetables including leeks, beets, radishes, carrots, salad mix, parsnips, sunflower sprouts, spinach and kale.
Photo: Do The Rye Thing
PFM is a great place for Saturday brunch or lunch offering a variety of ready-to-eat foods like tamales, tacos, shawarma, samosas, bagels and many baked goods, as well as coffee, kombucha and aguas frescas. PFM’s event calendar provides a list of scheduled vendors for any market day and special market events.
Special programs at the market include:
- Local carrots and homemade mini bagels are available for free for the kiddos through the Carrots for Kids program, made possible by Legacy Mutual Mortgage – The Riggs Team.
- The Feed Your Neighbors tent is where dedicated volunteers box up fresh, local produce purchased from local farmers and distribute it to those in need.
- Customers can bring their kitchen food scraps to the purple compost tent, where volunteers answer questions about the Prescott Community Compost Program. Acceptable scraps include fruit and vegetable scraps, coffee grounds, non-greasy food scraps and egg shells. Meat, dairy and oil are not accepted. Bagged leaves are also accepted and greatly appreciated. Please no pet/yard waste, sticks, rocks, pine needles or oak leaves (Gambel oak leaves are acceptable).
Customers can swipe their SNAP/EBT, debit or credit cards to receive tokens at the information booth. The Double Up Food Bucks Arizona program allows customers to double their SNAP benefits at the market for fresh fruits and vegetables. All vendors accept cash. PFM is a pet-free event; ADA service animals specifically trained to aid a person with a disability are always welcome. PFM offers reusable plates at select vendors as part of their effort toward a sustainable market. Customers can return used plates to the Sustainability Booth to be washed.
As a vital part of the economy, the mission of Prescott Farmers Market is to support and expand local agriculture, cultivate a healthy community and increase access to affordable local food. PFM is a nonprofit organization and a Qualifying Charitable Tax Credit Organization with the State of Arizona.
For more information, visit www.prescottfarmersmarket.org or call 928-713-1227.
