Farmers Market wraps Wednesday, moves downtown for fall in September

Goodbye peaches, goodbye plums. Goodbye green beans, goodbye corn.

Carson City's farmer's market makes its final summer appearance at the Pony Express Pavilion two weeks earlier than usual.

But for those hankering for fresh fruit and veggies, do not despair.

Several market vendors will move to Telegraph Square downtown for a new, fall market beginning Sept. 7. The market, featuring fresh fall produce like apples, tomatoes, corn and onions, will run Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. until Oct. 5.

Shirley Sponslor, market manager, said between 3,000 and 4,000 shoppers attend the pavilion market weekly. Because of repairs to the pavilion and a traditional drop in business after August, Sponslor cut the market short this year.

However, moving it to Saturdays at a new location may be a way to get people to buy fresh produce on a day when they have more time, she said.

Sponslor said fall produce will include seed fruit like apples, pears and grapes as well as fall varieties of peaches and plums.

Brenda Smith, of Dayton's Smith and Smith farms, will be at the market with tomatoes, potatoes, corn, onions and squash -- as long as she can avoid a frost. With temperatures dropping this week to 36 degrees in Dayton, though, Smith said she's worried about frost biting her crops earlier than mid-September.

Doreen Mack, a spokeswoman for the Telegraph Square Group, said downtown business missed the market when it left its Third Street home for the Pavilion in 1999.

"There have been requests to bring it back downtown," Mack said. "This allows the season to go on longer for the community."

Mack said the market will help attract shoppers to the area. The merchants group will host a Sept. 14 jazz and art festival with the market. Various artists will be featured in stores like A Treasure Basket and Sasha's Dress Shop among other stores and eateries in the Telegraph and Curry streets neighborhood.

Wednesday's final market at the pavilion will offer the usual range of produce from berries to zucchini, and will feature cooking demonstrations and live music.

IF YOU GO

What: Carson City Farmers Market

When: 3:30-7:30 p.m. Wednesday

Where: Pony Express Pavilion, Mills Park