Farmers Market returns to pre-Covid vendor numbers

“Our vendor numbers are back up to pre- Covid capacity,” Farmers and Crafts Market of Las Cruces (FCMLC) Manager Karin Bradshaw told the Las Cruces City Council at its Aug. 8 work session.

The Farmers Market has 159 permanent vendors and 108 temporary vendors who share space with nonprofits that get free space on an alternating basis, Bradshaw said. The market also has 58 registered musicians, including more than 15 who are under age 18, she said.

Bradshaw said the market has room to expand on Main Street, where it is held every Saturday and Wednesday morning.

“We do have areas we have not yet gone into,” she said at the work session. “I still have an entire block (on Main Street) that hasn’t been claimed.”

“Farmers will always have the top priority,” Bradshaw said. “We are a farmers market first.”

“Whenever I’m asked about what’s there to do in Las Cruces, the Farmers Market is the first thing I usually tell them,” Councilor Tessa Abeyta said at the meeting. “Are you coming on a Saturday? Go to the Farmer’s Market. It is a great event to go to … not only for locals but for those visiting our city.”

FCMLC is a nonprofit operated by a board of directors. It began in the summer of 1971 “with a gathering of local farmers selling their produce,” according to www.farmersandcraftsmarketoflascruces.com.

The market celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2011 and was named Number One Large Farmers Market in that year’s Nation in America’s Farmland Trust’s nationwide poll, the website said. In 2012, the market was incorporated under its new name, Farmers and Crafts Market of Las Cruces, Inc., and established it as a nonprofit organization.

The FCMLC office, 221 N. Main St., suite B, is open 9:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday and on Thursday by appointment. Contact the market at 575-201-3853 and fcmlcinc@gmail.com.

For a list of vendors, visit www.farmersandcraftsmarketoflascruces.com/vendor-directory.