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Apr 19, 2023

Telluride Farmers' Market opens its 20th season

A sure sign of summer is the opening of the Telluride Farmers' Market, with 40

A sure sign of summer is the opening of the Telluride Farmers' Market, with 40 vendors offering fresh produce, meats, foods and artisan wares. The Pie Maker, by husband and wife Tim Stubbs and Shani Winer from Cortez (pictured), is offering sweet and savory pies and pastries this year. Look for their signature nitro cold brew coffee and new nitro cold brew ice cream floats this season. (Courtesy photo)

The Telluride Farmers’ Market (TFM) opens its 20th season tomorrow morning, offering a cornucopia of the highest quality regional produce, cheeses, wines, meats, prepared food and artisanal wares. To support local sustainability, the nearly 40 vendors must reside, grow, produce and handmake their products within 100 miles of Telluride.

Produce, meat, fruit and prepared food vendors comprise about 75% of spaces along South Oak Street with the remaining 25% filled by artisans and local nonprofits like San Miguel Basin CSU Extension, Second Chance Humane Society and Tri-County Health, who are there to raise awareness around local issues and community resources.

An (uncertified) organic market, TFM allows very little resale to ensure that growers themselves are doing the selling.

"It's very rewarding to sell directly to the customer at the market as payoff for our hard work," enthused Kaylee Armstrong who, along with her husband Jeff, owns Abundant Life Organic Farms in Hotchkiss where they grow fruit and vegetables and create pasta sauce, pickles, pesto and jam from produce.

Despite working 19 regional markets involving 13-hour days, Julie Peterson from Singing Springs Botanicals in Ouray has been a vendor at TFM since its beginning.

"I grow many of the herbs in my gardens and wild harvest many others," she said. "To create all manner of herbal remedies: Tinctures, teas, salves, infused oils, powdered formulas and medicinal honeys."

For the past three years, Heather Rietz, owner of Botanical Companions out of Mancos, has offered pots of microgreens, along with microgreen powder, salt, mud masks, home-grow kits and shots of microgreen water.

In her fourth year as a vendor, Amy Reid, owner and operator of Jake's Farm in Durango, offers poultry, lamb, canned goods, and her best-selling eggs and sausages.

"Our unique specialties include homemade turkey pastrami and freeze-dried meals," she said.

This will be the second year that Benjamin Justman will offer his line of Peony Lane natural wines which he owns, makes and sells out of Paonia.

"I grow some of the highest elevation Pinot Noir grapes in North America," he said. "To create wine with vibrant acidity and bright fruit flavors."

Local farmer Kris Holstrom, who operates solar-powered Tomten Farm on Hastings Mesa, has hosted a booth at TFM since it started in 2003. She currently serves as board president for the Southwest Institute for Resilience (SWIRL), the fiduciary nonprofit board that oversees TFM.

"We’re financially stable while not being overly expensive for our vendors," she reported. "We chose a flat booth fee and a percentage of sales so that if a vendor thrives with lots of sales, some money comes back to the TFM organization."

New vendors to the market this year include Down's Ranch, Disco Swell, Honey Rock Landing and Hannah Wilson Art.

Market manager Julia Levine says she's always looking for additional farmers and prepared food vendors to join the TFM.

A former Telluride resident from the 80s and 90s, this will be the first year at TFM for Jill DeMetre from Rocky Mountain Leashes out of Montrose who is compelled to join the market because "Telluride is very dog friendly."

"I’ve developed a traffic and training leash, a hands-free leash with a tandem attachment for an additional dog and a vehicle safety belt," she explained. "I also offer the very best catnip in the entire world."

Not only does TFM feature live music by local musicians, but there are also a dozen vendors offering prepared foods from cider to waffles, tempeh to quiches, cookies to stir fry.

The Pie Maker — by husband and wife Tim Stubbs and Shani Winer from Cortez — creates sweet and savory pies and offers a full range of pastries with gluten free and vegan options. They intend to capitalize on their signature nitro cold brew coffee by offering nitro cold brew ice cream floats this season.

In her sixth year as a food vendor at TFM, Julie Thorneycroft of Thorneycroft Kitchen and Bakery in Norwood says the market allows her to create food that's otherwise hard to wholesale because of short shelf life like quiches, croissants, iced cakes and her best-selling scones which are labor intensive and melt in your mouth.

"I think the fact that vendors need to be at least 75% organic really sets TFM apart," she adds. "Which can also make products expensive."

Vendors not only accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) vouchers, but individuals can also redeem SNAP dollars at the TFM tent.

"We also accept vouchers from the state-funded program Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants & Children (WIC), and from the regionally funded Family Wellness program," added Levine.

She hints that TFM will host a community celebration of its 20th birthday later this summer and reminds community members not to park on South Oak Street on Thursday nights to avoid an early morning phone call on Fridays from the marshal's department.

TFM operates every Friday from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on South Oak Street through October 13. For more information, visit www.thetelluridefarmersmarket.com.

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