Pioneer Park Farmer's Market

Downtown at the Farmer's Market

The downtown Salt Lake farmer's market opened last weekend. While we didn't have a chance to go then (and it's best we didn't, considering the exploding FedEx semi truck), we were able to go today despite the weather.

Surprisingly, there were more Arts & Crafts stalls than food. Still, there were a sizable number of produce and meat sellers there, along with several stalls to get a snack at (not sure I would recommend the Caribbean lady, as it was fairly bland) or a drink. On our way out, we snagged a couple of limeades -- strawberry for me, lime for him -- which were fantastic. They'd be even better on a hot summer day.

Best market find: utterly fantastic homemade preserves from Lemon Grove Goods on the outskirts of the market. She let us taste the strawberry-rhubarb and we immediately bought a half pint of that and her apricot. Amazingly good preserves simply prepared.

Plus, we came across Living on the Edge, a mobile sharpening service, so we're planning to take all of our kitchen knives to him for sharpening in the next couple of weeks.

We picked up some fresh chanterelle mushrooms from Gnome Grown Mushrooms, a baggie of lemon mint and later, a baggie of chives. We also came across artisan smoked walnut and apple cheddar, which we picked up, and I tried some espresso-lavender cheddar. (Final verdict: very interesting but not for me.)

Much of the produce this early in the growing season was limited to chard, spinach, lettuces and peas. Since we're still working through a bunch of leafy greens, we couldn't really justify buying more than we could eat in a week. I'm hoping for more berries, peppers and tomatoes as the summer progresses. Considering the wet spring and summer we've had so far, I'm not really surprised.

All in all, I'm favorably impressed. It's not too bad to get to, parking is clearly marked and plentiful. We'll definitely be returning, though I'd like to see the markets in Murray and South Salt Lake as well.