The Uptown Station building at Broadway and Wilson. Photo: Warren LeMay, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Uptown’s farmers market isn’t packing up for the winter this year. It’s moving inside.
The Uptown Farmers Market holds its last outdoor Wednesday of the season this Wednesday, Nov. 4, then starts a Saturday winter market on Nov. 14 at the Uptown Taproom, 1265 W. Wilson Ave. at Malden. It’s the first time the market has tried a winter edition.
Organizers are upfront that it’ll be smaller. They described it to Uptown Update as “a small (but mighty!) market” with five or six vendors each Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., compared with the roughly 30 vendors who set up at the outdoor market.
The schedule
The winter market runs Saturdays, with a few breaks around the holidays:
- Nov. 14 and Nov. 21
- Closed Thanksgiving weekend
- Dec. 5, Dec. 12 and Dec. 19
- Closed Christmas and New Year’s weekends
- Every Saturday from January through April
The outdoor market comes back on the first Wednesday in May.
Who’ll be there
The regular winter lineup leans on vendors Uptown shoppers already know from the summer:
- Hebron Farms, with produce, meat, eggs, microgreens and honey
- Banter Bakery and The Blooming Baker, splitting the bread, cake and brownie end of things
- Yoberri Gourmet, with frozen yogurt, sorbet, ice cream and cold-pressed juice
- Homegirl Hummus, with hummus and chips
Pop-up vendors will rotate in through the season.
The winter market accepts SNAP and offers Link Match, which doubles what SNAP shoppers can spend. That matters in a neighborhood where a lot of households rely on benefits, and where fresh produce gets harder to find once the outdoor markets close for the year.
“We hope this gives neighbors reliable access to fresh, local food throughout the winter and a little extra community joy, even though it’s smaller than our regular outdoor market,” organizers said.
Why a taproom
Winter markets in Chicago usually depend on someone with indoor space willing to give up a Saturday. Here it’s the Uptown Taproom, which is opening its event space for the market. Shoppers can also order off the bar’s menu and drink local craft beer while they’re there, which the market is openly hoping will bring in some new regulars for the taproom, too.
Organizers thanked owner Andy and managers Ben and Rhea for “supporting local farmers and small businesses through the colder months.”
For small farms and bakers, a winter market is a way to keep some steady income between November and May, when there are far fewer places to sell directly to customers. For shoppers, it’s one Saturday stop for eggs, bread and greens without trekking to a bigger market elsewhere in the city.
Getting there
The taproom is on Wilson at Malden, a short walk from the Wilson Red and Purple Line station and close to Truman College, which is at 1145 W. Wilson. For a lot of Uptown, that’s closer than the big indoor markets elsewhere in the city, and the Saturday midday hours line up with errands rather than a workday. Anyone planning to use SNAP or Link Match should bring their card, the same as at the outdoor market.
One last outdoor day, with pumpkins
Before the move, the market’s final outdoor Wednesday on Nov. 4 will have the usual crowd of about 30 vendors plus a pumpkin smash. Anyone with a jack-o’-lantern that’s done its job can bring it and break it in a designated smashing area. Waste Not Compost is partnering with the market to compost all of it.
No pumpkin? The market’s organizer said they’re buying extras from farmer partners so anyone who shows up can smash one.
After that, the next chance to shop is Saturday, Nov. 14, on Wilson.
Linh Tran-Whitaker covers Argyle Street, dining and community life.
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