A walk down memory lane: A poster from the Durango Farmers Market, circa 2006, and an entry from Farmers Market founder Carol Clark’s journal on the first day of business./File photos

All grown up

Durango Farmers Market celebrates 20th year with belly dancers, honey and more 

by Joy Martin

The river and Mexican Logger are a’flowin, fat bikes are gone from the trails, and our fourth and final scene of the local food landscape series opens this weekend: the Durango Farmers Market. With the dawn of summer as our setting, enjoy this savory morsel dished up not as a conclusion but rather as a stoke piece for all things fresh, green and so Durango.     

Genesis

In the beginning, like 1995, the Durango Farmers Market (DFM) sprouted from Dennis Lum’s Sociology classroom at Fort Lewis College. An architect major named Carolyn Clark “had” to take SOC101 and Lum “made” her read America: What Went Wrong?

The power of this best-selling book combined with Lum’s liberal passion (Clark says he actually threw a chair across the room once) converted Clark from wanting to design buildings to wanting to build community, so she switched majors to Sociology.

When it came time to pick a practicum, Clark was hungry for something grander than an internship. The eager activist chose uncharted territory in La Plata County: she wanted to start a farmers market.  

Some of the trappings of a typical market: music; oodles of fresh produce; and, in earlier years, Clark in her signature flower hat. “I wore it so farmers would know I was the market person. It was easy to spot.”/File photos

Her feasibility study revealed that Durango had the five-farm minimum needed to launch a market. Broke, the biggest hurdle for the 25-year-old was scraping together funds for the City of Durango’s remittance tax (if you profit on city property, says Clark, you have to pay 25 percent of gross sales to the city). So she collected donated bread from restaurants around town and sold it at the market.

Rooted in the Chapman Hill parking lot, Clark and farmers welcomed the first of many Durango Farmers Market visitors on July 27, 1996.  In bubbly cursive, she noted in her journal: “It was a nice and bright sunny day. I was at Chapman Hill at 6:45 in the morning waiting for all the farmers to setup shop. Well the farmers blew me away with their nice tablecloths and red-and-white striped canopies ... The outcome was more than I had ever anticipated. I had a perma-grin the entire day as cars flooded to park anywhere they could. It blew my mind ... .”

Twenty years later, the market thrives. 

“It was meant to be a gathering place where we could support each other in all kinds of ways,” says Clark. “The food was the piece to get us healthy, and the location kept our minds and souls healthy.”

Over the years, the DFM has migrated from parking lot to parking lot, from Chapman Hill to the Smiley Building (Clark earned a spot there on trade by helping the Shaw brothers get 4,000 signatures on a petition to purchase the historic locale) and in 2000, to First National Bank.

In 2004, Clark stepped down as director.

“I had to let it go,” says Clark. “It needed others eyes, minds, hearts on it. I feel fortunate that I was able to give it to the community.” 

“I didn’t get paid the entire time,” laughs Clark. 

But for Clark and most DFM supporters, it isn’t about the money. Clark wrote in her journal, “Markets can pull the community together because of the interaction between the grower and buyer – while also being able to get a hot cup of organic coffee ... what an atmosphere – so much better than that big fluorescent warehouse full of packaged food.”       

Old Timers & New Kids on the Block

“We are the local grocery store,” says the DFM’s current (paid) market manager, Cody Reinheimer. “And our mission is to support local agriculture. We have a few solid growers in this region who can bring their fresh, local, nutritious food to market and be well received by the public. Combined with the artisans and the music, it’s definitely the funnest place to shop in Durango.” 

With Reinheimer’s background in farming and a (volunteer) board of directors who are also all agriculturalists, it’s little surprise that the DFM is first and foremost agriculturally oriented. This year, the market will showcase 34 farms, 18 artisans, 11 ready-to-eat/drink meals, beverages and value-added vendors (raw fruits turned into O’Hara’s jelly, for instance), three service vendors, and a host of city organizations and nonprofits.

In order to run a legal market, vendors are required to carry their own business licenses, says Reinheimer, adding that vendor applications are due by March. Those who are accepted pay $40 per week for 11 weeks for a 10-by-10-foot space (14 weeks are free).

“The food’s more delicious than food that’s been on a truck from California,” says Reinheimer. “And your dinner is all the more satisfying when you know your farmer.”

Farmers ages span four generations at the DFM, from the James Ranch gang who have been in ag for 55 years to the 30- and 40-somethings, like Stubborn Farms and Sacred Valley Farms, and the young guns of Fields to Plate and 550 Farms, says Reinheimer.

The ag incubator program, which gave Fields to Plate their kickstart, “offers the chance for young farmers and backyard gardeners to vend for up to two markets,” adds Reinheimer.

This nurturing aspect appeals not only to farmers who want a chance to build relationships in the community but to artisans and food vendors, such as local icons Cream Bean Berry and Fired Up Pizzeria, who both got their start at the market.

This season, meet Calle Jon 21.

Translated “21st Alley,” chef and owner Jose Rios says Calle Jon 21 was a street in his hometown of Juchipila, Mexico, where a basic farmers market was held every day.

“In Mexico, you pick ingredients for the day you cook,” says 29-year-old Rios, a sous chef at Mutu’s.

Using local ingredients, Rios plans to offer lamb birria, a family-style dish from “the little corner of Mexico” he grew up in, served with homemade tortillas and beans. Veggie and al pastor street tacos and horchata with berries will also be available.  

“The kitchen has always been fun,” says Rios. “It’s where Mexican families gather. Growing up, I just remember eating all the time, watching my dad cook – and grandma cooking tortillas always. I went to culinary school in Scottsdale and made a goal to either be head chef or have my own place by the time I turned 30. My birthday’s July 1, so I figure it’s time to get something started for myself. What better way than the Farmers Market. I’m just excited to have people come enjoy it.”

Also new for 2016, DFM’s first full-time honey vendor (“local honey is your best defense against allergies,” says Reinheimer); the Telluride Mushroom Co., which relocated to Mancos; Razzmatazz raspberries; Earth Girl Goodies gluten-free and vegan cuisine; Mike Klaskala (the Hummus Bus kid); and a henna artist.   

Services include massages with Stairway to Heaven, acupuncture treatments by Mountain Medicine, and of course Columbine Sharpening by Barry Owen. “Everybody asks for him,” says Reinheimer. “There’s always so many folks walking around with knives.” 

(BTW, don’t freak out, dull knife owners, when you show up Saturday and Barry’s not there. He’ll be back June 4.)  

Belly Dancers &  Blizzards

Besides the aroma of sizzling veggies, colorful bouquets of chard and lavender, the chatter of camaraderie, face-painted kiddos running around with twisted giraffes from Ruby the Balloon Lady, the twang of bluegrass or lilt of guitar set the mood for amblers to mix and mingle.

Weekend entertainment alternates between out-of-town musicians and favorite local performers, like The Assortment, Magi Nation, Pete Giuliani, Carute Roma, and of course Hello Dollface.

Opening morning, the Matthew Moons Group brings its troupe of fiddlers for some “foot-tappin’ good times,” says Reinheimer. And around 11, the Durango Shimmy Mob, a harem of a dozen belly dancers, mesmerize old and young timers alike with their hip swings and jangles. 

Unlike the DFM’s dreamy debut morning back in 1996 under bluebird skies, last year’s market opened to blizzard conditions. Reinheimer says that in his two seasons of managing the market, it seems Mother Nature creates the most drama.

“The long-time vendors stuck it out and regulars still came down,” recalls Reinheimer. “They had a decent day. After that, it was very apparent that we needed to grin and bear it – rain, snow, shine, wind. The vendors would rather sell what they can than let it go to waste.”

So regardless of the weather on Saturday morning, bring your cash, grab a coffee, and stroll through the essence of community as you glean wisdom from master gardeners, taste the nutty undertones of James Ranch cheese, and inhale the goodness of all things summer. Twenty-five weeks of homegrown bliss are ahead of us.  

“We plan to be around another 20 years and beyond,” says Reinheimer, who will be posted up next to the elk sculpture. “I hope to see a lot of familiar and new faces. If you haven’t made it part of your lifestyle, get on board and get to know what it means to be a true local Durangoan.”

The Durango Farmers Market’s takes place from 8 a.m. – 12 noon, Saturdays thru Oct. 29 (9 a.m. -noon starting Oct. 9.)