Winter? Bring It On.

We’ve been asked this over and over again: When the market shut down for the winter? The answer is simple. It doesn’t. The Franklin Farmers Market is a year-round market. Because you’re getting food from local farms, the vegetables and fruits you buy at the market are seasonal. Of course, there’s a large variety of veggies that like to grow in the warm days of summer. But there’s also quite a few that prefer cooler weather. When you visit the Franklin Farmers Market during the winter, you’ll find greens such as arugula, spinach, collards and lettuce. Winter squash and apples are available now. Root crops, like carrots, beets, onions and radishes grow well in cooler weather. Broccoli and cabbage do too. The best part is that all of these cool weather vegetables actually have a better flavor and texture than if they were grown during the summer. More and more farmers are also using hoop houses to help extend the growing season on some vegetables and get an early start on growing others so that you can eat a good variety of locally grown veggies year-round. Don’t forget, you can also get the best in beef, pork and chicken at the market all year long too, along with dairy goods from both cows and goats and fresh eggs too.  The only real change for the market during winter is the time it opens and closes. Next Saturday, November 5th, market hours will change to 9am – noon for the winter season. The winter market runs from November through April.