August 10th 2024 Farmers Market

Market Review Aug. 3^rd 2024

by Paul Bullock & Mary Gates

Well, folks, we hit the halfway point in our season as we completed our 11^th Market of the year. It followed a tremendous First Friday Art Trail!  Believe me, after having worked the Art Trail, I woke up Saturday morning feeling like I had been chased around the block and beaten up by the neighborhood bully! My fellow vendors who worked both events concurred with me. But have no fear, we had around 25 vendors at our Market, and fear that the Art Trail would take it’s toll on us were dismissed as we had a quick start with shoppers coming in from all directions. A wonderful cloud cover protected us from the sun after 4 consecutive triple digit days. It was very pleasant and both vendors and shoppers took advantage of the cool morning.

We had out of town visitors, including folks from Plainview and Dallas, and a couple of California transplants. We are continuing to draw in brand new shoppers, and plenty of people who make a weekly visit to support all of our small businesses. The pace of the Market was set on FAST as people came and went with bags full of all the fresh produce that we offer. The energy level stayed high until about noon when the cloud cover burned off and the Plaza temperatures rose. We encourage early shopping!

Our regular vendors are still providing the best baked goods with all types of breads and pastries. The choice of canned goods includes salsa, pickled products, jellies and more. We have two beef providers now! And of course the produce is still coming in! Black-eyed peas are flying off the tables with the early bird catching the worm. The tomatoes, onions, squash, okra and cantaloupe are also quick to go. We are proud to offer SNAP benefits, and we match each dollar of SNAP with a dollar of our own. We hope that families receiving SNAP will stop in and take advantage of this great deal. Our arts and crafts vendors are there for your shopping needs, offering all types of gifts for all occasions.

We love having dog owners bring their pets to the Market and we honor at least one dog every week as Tornado Industrial/Arts Dog of the Day. Occasionally they travel in pairs, and this week we honor Cole and Luna.. Talk about traveling in style! We couldn’t resist naming them Dogs of the Day!

Congratulations! We invite you to come on out to the Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market every Saturday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. Bring the family and friends and enjoy a couple hours visiting and shopping. It is a great way to spend a Saturday morning!

FEATURED VENDOR: 3CJ Cattle Company

As mentioned, we have another meat vendor, and we’d like to introduce you to 3CJ Cattle Company. The name of the company derives from the initials of the four partners: Casey Cowan, Chance Willis, Caleb Bright, and Josh Bright. These guys were friends in college, and after going different routes, decided to go back to their cattle roots and create their own special breed. Their cattle are a 50/50 mix of Black Angus and Wagyu. For those not in the know (like me), Wagyu is a Japanese breed of cattle who’s meat is highly marbled, and therefore very tender. The fat melts at a lower temperature, making it “melt in your mouth” says Casey. The Wagyu is no longer exported from Japan, so the breed is highly prized, and pretty rare (no pun intended)! 3CJ offers a number of different cuts and buying packages, so there are choices for all budgets. Come on down and give their products a try!

Thank you for everyone who visited the market this week and we look forward to seeing you next week at the Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market on the LHUCA Plaza at 5^thStreet and Avenue J.