Tuesday Market to ?re-emphasize farmers

With just five weeks left in its 2016 season, Sonoma’s Tuesday night Farmers’ will rearrange the market stall locations and allow farmers to start selling at 4:15 p.m. starting Tuesday, Sept. 27. Hopefully the change will give the farmers more time to sell their produce before the party crowd gets there.

The changes are being made with the approval of City Hall because the farmers have complained about falling sales. Frankly, it is hard to shop for veggies and other goodies in a huge crowd of partiers, which is why the Friday farmers market vendors and roadside stands are all doing better.

The rest of the market vendors begin selling at 5:15.

The farmers and produce vendors will move to the back of City Hall so that the public can get to the building to conduct city business until 5 p.m

According to the Valley of the Moon Certified Farmers’ Market Executive Administrator Emily Fitzpatrick, this latest change is one of several steps the market’s Board of Directors has taken this year to try and keep the focus on the farmers and figure out ways to get the community to come out and support those farmers.

Board President Bill Dardon says he hopes the change will accomplish two things: allow the farmers more daylight hours during the shortened fall days to make their sales, and allow community members to access the farmers and buy their produce more easily before the rest of the market, including the musical entertainment, gets under-?way. Dardon notes that even after the full market is up and running at 5:15, it should be easier for patrons who only want to buy produce to access the farmers directly from Spain Street without going through the rest of the market.” That is if they can find parking.