AROUND TOWN
SUPPORT LOCAL BUSINESSES BY FREQUENTING YOUR FARMERS MARKET
WRITTEN BY SOPHIE OSWALD PHOTOS PROVIDED BY OP FARMERS MARKET—TBL PHOTOGRAPHY
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t’s that time of year! The farmers markets are about to reopen. Whether you live in Overland Park, Lenexa, Olathe, or somewhere else nearby, there will be a farmers market to visit near you. You’ll find locally grown and locally made products like fresh fruit, vegetables, baked goods, and more. Each farmers market brings something unique to the table, and there is a lot of exciting news when it comes to the one in Overland Park. This year they will be celebrating their 40th anniversary back in the original location. The city is also working with the Downtown Overland Park Partnership to bring back the popular outdoor entertainment. “The 2022 market layout will expand the footprint of the overall market out from under the farmers market pavilion and into nearby parking lots and onto Marty Street,” says Kristina Stanley, City of Overland Park’s recreation supervisor. “Portions of Marty Street will be closed during market operations,” Stanley explains. The layout was much smaller in
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APRIL 2022
2019, measuring a little over 22,000 square feet. This year it will be nearly 70,000 square feet! “Many of the things all stakeholders enjoyed about the Matt Ross Community Center market will be similar at the expanded pavilion site,” Stanley says. “The expanded pavilion site will offer space between stalls, provide additional parking adjacent to the market site, including parking specifically for farmers market vendors and staff, and additional nearby restrooms.” Some local farmers markets are
small, while others have hundreds of vendors that come out each week. The Overland Park market is quite large. “We have almost 90 vendors with more than 45 vendors who speak 23 different languages,” says Stanley. Not every vendor will be at the farmers market each week, but there will always be a wide range of unique finds. “We have urban farmers who farm on 0.1 acre of land to farmers who own hundreds of acres,” Stanley says. “We have first-generation farmers to fourth-generation farmers,” she
