September 27th 2025 Farmers Market

Market Review Sept. 20^th

By Paul Bullock & Mary Gates

Everybody knows that the South Plains Fair can absolutely stifle local businesses. Throw in an 11:00 am kick off time for Texas Tech, a Sip ‘n Shop at McPherson’s Cellars, Hispanic Pride Fest in the Depot District, The Flatland Film Festival, and Texas Tech’s Horticulture Annual Plant sale and the expectations of a successful Market looked a little dim.

But surprise, surprise! We didn’t have time to twiddle our thumbs for long before a steady stream of shoppers began to show up. We had new arrivals to Texas Tech coming from San Antonio and Beaumont, Connecticut and Up State New York. Visitors from Midland and Bowie Texas and Long Beach, California. Throw in our regulars and we had quite a showing. And then there was the Tech Dog Society. This is a newly formed group of Tech Students lead by Dylan Post. They showed up with about 10 dogs. Their mission is to go to the Lubbock Animal Shelter, pick up as many dogs as they can, and visit different events around town with the hopes of finding new homes for these beautiful animals. They expect to be an accredited organization on campus in the next 2 or 3 weeks. Bravo to all the Red Raiders who volunteer their time to this worthy cause.

I stayed quite busy throughout the morning, and had wonderful conversations with some very interesting folks. It appeared to me that many of our vendors did the same, and so the Market was a-buzz with visiting and the business at hand. We can sometimes gauge our success as we watch the baskets at Block 20 Farms pile up. By our calculations business was brisk! Our produce vendors are still bringing in wonderful fruits and vegetables and we expect to be finishing strong as we move into the final month of our Market. You will find, onions, peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, okra, squash and black eyed peas.

Our canning experts have a wide variety of salsas, pickled goods, jams and jellies. Our bakers bring fresh sour dough breads, cookies, and mimi sweet breads. We are happy to be a part of the SNAP program and you can double your buying power with a dollar for dollar deal when you shop with us. We are getting into the gift giving season, and it is never too early to get the holiday shopping started. We have great jewelry and all kinds of arts and crafts to choose from. Do yourself a favor and get the shopping done early. Come out and see what we have to offer.

We are proud to be dog friendly and as mentioned we had so many dogs at our Market. However, we can usually choose one as Tornado Industrial/Arts Dog of the Day. Rose was so excited to be at the Market and we were happy to present her with the Red Bandana, which declares that she is our Dog of the Day. We are winding down as the fall season starts. We will continue to serve you for the next four Saturdays. Our final Market will be on Oct. 18^th. If you haven’t visited us this year we hope you will find the time to drop in and see what we have to offer. We appreciate all our customers old and new and hope to see you in the Louise Hopkins Underwood Center for the Arts Plaza at 5^th and Ave. J from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm on Saturday.

FEATURED VENDOR: BLUE ANGEL BY EDEN

We’re welcoming Ruth and Moses Barrera this week as new vendors to our market. At their booth BLUE ANGEL BY EDEN you will find an array of  t-shirts designed by Moses. He first creates his original artwork on the computer, prints them out on clear film, then those designs are heat adhered to the shirt. This couple has been in business since 2021…yet another craft vendor inspired by the pandemic! They moved to Lubbock from Long Beach, California last December, and we hope you will give them your support!

Thank you to everyone who visited our market this Saturday and we look forward to seeing you next week at the Lubbock Downtown Farmers Market on the LHUCA Plaza.