On Saturday the shoppers for fresh, natural vegetables and foods will have to go to a different location because the Wake Forest Farmers Market will be in Renaissance Plaza with lots of parking and space for vendors.
Last Saturday Market Manager Robin Hendricks was both delighted with the move and anxious to get busy plotting the spaces for the individual vendors.
They will be in good company, near the Wake Forest Renaissance Centre, Over the Falls Deli, Southern Classic Cars NC and Brooks Street Bowl.
Shoppers will find the same friendly vendors in the tents, but now there is room for expansion plus the increased visibility.
There will be the same healthy eating, too. The fall crops are coming in – there was bok choy again last week – and also lots of onions, butter beans, black-eyed peas, potatoes and carrots.
There is always a wide variety of meats – the usual beef, pork and chicken – but also rabbit and goat. And they are sold in many ways, from steaks and chops to a range of sausages.
You will find sweet baked goods, including gluten-free, several styles of breads, jewelry, coffee, cheeses, garlic, honey, seasonal flower bouquets and peacock feathers.
The music this week is by Dry Bread Road. Remember the market does not pay the musicians, so leave a few bills in the tip jar.
The Gazette was incorrect last week in saying Doug Pearce is the owner of the plaza. The overall property owner of the renovated 1980s strip mall is Craig Briner’s East Elm Partners, which has turned it into a condominium. Pearce or his companies own the deli and bowling alley properties; the Town of Wake Forest owns the Renaissance Centre.
Pearce is working with Briner on plans for the future development of the plaza, and Briner is building The Retreat at Renaissance, 80 townhouses and five live/work townhouses that will be built between South Franklin Street and the extension of South Brooks Street to East Holding Avenue. The live/work townhouses will face the plaza’s parking lot. The project has town approval; currently the planning department is reviewing construction plans.
This will be the fourth home for the market, which began in the late1990s when owner Bob Johnson welcomed a few farmers and at least one baker to the parking lot next to The Cotton Company. In 2002 the DRC (Downtown Revitalization Commission which has been renamed Wake Forest Downtown) offered to sponsor the market in the Depot Parking Lot. The market moved in 2012 to the OneCare Inc. parking lot along North White Street behind CVS because of the parking issues with the construction for the South White Streetscape. The move was also made to allow the market to grow, but that ran into problems when the property owners leased some of the parking lot to a used car business which has grown and uses most of the lot currently.
The Wake Forest Farmers Market is incorporated with an elected president and board of directors. You can find more information on the market’s Facebook page, by calling the market manager at 919-671-9269 or at www.wakeforestfarmersmarket.org.
