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Forty years ago in a Spring Street parking lot, the Saratoga Farmers’ Market held its first market with only 10 to 15 vendors. Anna Mae Clark of Dahlia Gardens and Greenhouses in Ballston Spa, was one of them.
“We wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for Albert Lounsbury, who was head of [Cornell] Cooperative Extension, along with two other farmers, Don Griffin and Bill Stevens to help organize and get us up and going,” Clark said.
Albert Lounsbury, Donald Griffin, William Stevens and Melvin Wrisley are the four founders of the Saratoga Farmers’ Market. Their names can be seen on plaques throughout the High Rock Park Pavilion. Clark continues to keep their vision alive.
“Albany County had oodles of markets for the farmers and they wanted something for the farmers up our way… Our farmers and our area," she said.
Clark has been selling fruits, jam and flowers at the farmers’ market since the start and still is today. She recalls having to bring her own canopy to the market and since it was year round this was important to protect her products and herself.
Clark’s responsibility to her customers is what keeps her coming back every time.
“You don’t go along and desert your customers, you be there for your customers… You have to be dependable, this is what Al [Albert Lounsbury] wanted and the others as well,” she said.
The Saratoga Farmers’ Market has since grown to upwards of 50 vendors. Starting with only agricultural goods, the market now offers, home goods, spirits and prepared food. While vendors are only allowed if their product was grown or produced in Saratoga, Schenectady, Rensselaer, Washington and Warren counties.
Newcomers like Christophe Robert of Longlesson Farm in Buskirk N.Y. have been selling pork, beef and chicken at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market for the past five years. Robert has become very good friends with his customers and says his time at the market are his most social hours of the week.
“My cattle have very limited capabilities and it gets very boring; the weekend is when I meet people," he joked.
Will Robert continue vending at the Saratoga Farmers’ Market? Definitely. “That market has been treating me better and better every year," Robert said. You can also find Longlesson Farm’s meat at The Food Florist in Ballston Spa.
The rich history of the Saratoga Farmers’ Market hasn’t stopped it from modernizing. Vendors are now joining a new mobile app called FreshFoodNY. Just in time for the new season! The app allows shoppers to pre-order and pay for items, then pick them up at the market. FreshFoodNY aims to build closer relationships between the shopper and farmer as well as assist in making local produce and goods more available.
The Saratoga Farmers’ Market will be celebrating the new season’s grand opening as well as the 40th anniversary on May 5 at the High Rock Park Pavilion from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Live music and activities for children and families will highlight the celebration.
