Saratoga News

Photograph by Robert Scheer

A. J. Szenda, chef at the Plumed Horse, shops for fresh strawberries at the Saratoga Farmer's Market, which opened May 4th.

Farmer's Market gets underway in Saratoga

Saratoga Farmer's Market opened May 4 with some 25 vendors selling everything from organic vegetables to fruits and flowers. The market, a sister to the Sunday Los Gatos Farmer's Market, is the brainchild of Melanie Defe and Suellen Sterling of Los Gatos. The duo also operate a market on Saturdays in Willow Glen.

"We had a friend who was a farmer who used to say, 'Why don't you start a farmer's market?" Defe said. "Finally, we listened."

The two-year-old Saratoga Farmer's Market is open on Saturdays, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., until the last weekend in October and is located at the junction of Big Basin Way and Los Gatos-Saratoga Road. The Los Gatos Farmer's Market, now in its fifth year, is open year-round.

Items for sale at the Saratoga market include breads, seafood, sausages, bagels, specialty foods and dried fruits, Defe said. "Cherries will be coming in in the next couple of weeks," she said.

Saratoga Market Days, a business promotion, has been launched as part of this year's market season. Various shopping areas will stage special events.

The opening featured music by classical harpist Aryeh Frankfurter. The market is looking for other musicians who may be interested in performing, Defe said.