September 13th 2025 Farmers Market

Market Review Set. 6^th

By Paul Bullock & Mary Gates

And just like that, summer took a day off. The morning was cloudy and cold! The Friday night rains brought a cold front and put a shock into our set up. People were dressed for winter. Hoodies were very fashionable indeed! There was a light drizzle during the set up time, but we got it done and prepared for the morning.

The First Friday Art Trail always takes a bite out of our Saturday Market, and the 11:00 am kick off time for Texas Tech’s football game sure cut into our numbers, as football always does. There was also a huge Art Show called the Hi 5 at the Co-opt Art Gallery located at 42^nd and Boston. These events plus the colder weather certainly impacted our vendor and shopper’s number.

The drizzle stopped shortly before our start time and the drying began. Even though

we had a slow start, our shoppers did show up. Our vendors began to chat with folks and shopping bags began to fill up with all the beautiful produce that we have to offer. We had quite a few out of town guests join us. We spoke with folks from Dallas, Albuquerque, Ruidoso, Tulsa and a recent transplant from San Antonio. These visitors always seem so happy to be at the Markets and we, of course are very happy to have them stop by.

We have a great group of regular customers that show up, come rain or shine, and we get a big kick out of seeing them all with big smiles ready to support the Downtown Market. It is amazing just how many people have come into my life over the past five years! That is definitely one of the greatest things about being a vendor. We get to interact with so many different people, and sometimes those short meetings turn into friendships.

The morning progressed, and the word from most of our vendors was that, despite the cold and the other events happening around town, we did pretty well. We still have 7 more Markets left and expect to continue to have great farm goods and great baked goods to offer. We have such a wide variety of arts and crafts to cover any gift needs that you might have for up coming weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, or for the occasional personal gift you might like for yourself.

The tomatoes are great! We also have onions, and peppers, squash, black eyed peas, melon, apples and pears. This is what a Farmers Market is all about and we invite you to come out and see all the fresh fruits and vegetables available. We are happy to be part of the SNAP program and we can double your dollar value when you shop with us.

We are very family friendly and that certainly includes our furry dog family members. We always choose one dog to be the Tornado/Industrial Arts Dog of the Day. Our winning dog receives a bright red bandana. This week Winston begged us to choose him….so we did! Bring the family and all your friends and see what we have to offer at our Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market located in the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts Plaza at 5^th and Ave. J. See you there from 9:00 am to 1:00pm.

FEATURED VENDOR: BLUE HEART CROCHET

This week we’d like to introduce you to Laticia Landtiser with her booth BLUE HEART CROCHET. While not a new vendor, she has yet to have been highlighted here. Laticia makes a wide variety of crocheted items, and since she has been creating things for over 35 years, you know you will find quality work at her booth! There are blankets, cardigan sweaters, adorable children’s hats, animals, and lots of plushie dolls and characters, plants and mushrooms. There are also key chains, and Laticia adds seasonal items, like pumpkins for the Halloween/Thanksgiving holidays. Please stop by an admire her varied and colorful wares.

Thank you to everyone who came out to this week’s market and we hope to see you next week at the Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market on the LHUCA Plaza.