Grants Pass Grower’s Market, Oregon
One of the joys in traveling for me is finding places and events that give you a real “flavor” for the area. One of the best ways to get this is visiting a Farmer’s Market, or as it’s titled here a “Grower’s Market” It’s at these places where you can learn a ton about an area. Not only do you get to discover what the local agricultural community offers up, but you can also find out what arts & crafts are being produced locally.
To date, the Grower’s Market in Grants Pass, Oregon takes First Prize. It’s held on Saturdays, running from 9 am to 1 pm. This is a year round activity, staying outdoors in the downtown area at 4th & F Streets until the weather gets cold at which time it relocates to the Commercial Building at the Josephine County Fairgrounds.
This is one of the largest venues of this type I’ve ever seen. You can easily spend an hour or two exploring their endless food offerings, craft booths and even catch some live music from street musicians.
You’ll find tons and tons of booths manned by local farmers, greenhouse staff, restaurants and even home gardens. The offerings at these is amazing. You’ll find everything from fresh meat, cheeses, fresh kettle corn, shaved ice, fresh coffee, vegetables, fruits, honey and of course hot meals ready to fuel your shopping experience. There’s way too much to eat everywhere, but if you’re a local that’s not a problem as you can sample from different booths whenever you visit. For me, being from Kentucky I had to be very selective on what I could try.
I started out with some authentic Mexican food (tamales) and tried a few little samples of odds & ends here and there, finally ending up at a booth that sold hot, freshly-made donuts. I could smell these cooking for a considerable distance and when I got there, I knew I’d found Nirvana. To be honest, my friend’s daughter Aleutia had already told me about the donut booth so I didn’t really need to search it out as she knew exactly where it was. I had what is undoubtedly the absolute best fresh donut sprinkled with cinnamon that I’ve ever had. As it was the last of the food booths, it was the perfect way to wrap up the morning’s adventure.
Other foods offered here include, but are not limited to: multiple bakeries, various ethnic foods, creameries and local restaurants. Trust me here, you will find something you like. The problem here is being able to quit eating, not finding something you want to eat. It was a wonderful torture having to decide.
Just as impressive as the food booths were the ones dedicated to crafts. I was amazed at the number and different types of them on-site. You can find booths with: woodwork (my personal favorite as I do this type of work myself), painted rocks, jewelry, knitted products, nature paintings, pieces made from reclaimed materials (another favorite of mine), metal art, clay and pottery pieces and multiple clothing offerings. This is the perfect place to go shopping for that person on your list that is hard to shop for. One really nice thing about all of this, prices were very reasonable.
If you’re looking for the perfect experience to kick off your weekend, and if you happen to be in Grants Pass, Oregon on a Saturday morning, let me suggest you try this out. You can get information on this by calling the Market Manager at (541) 816-1144 or you can visit their website or check them out on Facebook. A couple of things to know before you go, first WIC is accepted and secondly, pets are not allowed, unless they’re Service Dogs (real ones, not fake ones).
Last modified on: November 15th 2019.