A Crafty Approach
Each to his own taste, the French say, and perhaps they were thinking of farmers' markets. Every farmers' market in New Mexico is different, but it would be hard to find two markets more different from each other or appealing to different tastes than those in neighboring Las Cruces and Silver City. While the Silver City market has concentrated on growers, the Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market—as its extended name implies—has opened the door wide for crafts vendors. Partly as a result, while the Silver City market reopens May 7, the Las Cruces market stays open all year round, Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8 a.m.-12:30 p.m., on the Downtown Mall.
Begun in 1971 as a post-urban renewal effort to bring shoppers downtown, the Las Cruces market, like most farmers' markets, started with a few area growers. Next came bakers, then the crafts vendors. The City of Las Cruces assumed management of the market in 1999.
"The market brings a whole group of people who might otherwise not come to downtown," says Olivia Hennesey, the city's downtown events coordinator, who also manages the market. When produce is in season, she says, the Saturday market typically draws 300-400 people and the Wednesday market attracts about 100 people. They come to shop from two-dozen growers—three or four large-scale farmers, plus backyard gardeners—and 150-200 craft booths.
When the fresh produce runs out, roughly from December through February, the market continues with its wide variety of crafts. The weeks right before Christmas are the peak for crafts, with 200 or more vendors and big crowds looking for one-of-a-kind handmade gifts.
Monthly special events, such as the Mother's Day Party on May 7, add free entertainment and children's activities.
Even though the market allows crafts, Hennessey says, there are still rules: "You have to live in Las Cruces or Dona Ana County, and you have to make your own crafts."
Growers can come from anywhere in New Mexico, in an effort to boost that segment of the market. "We don't get as many growers," she says. "Many of the farmers in this area sell to major food producers instead."
Las Cruces' warm climate, though, means that the growers who do attend can start selling as early as March. "We've already had asparagus, greens, herbs and nursery plants," Hennessey says.
For more information on the Las Cruces Farmers and Crafts Market, please call 528-3204.
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May 2005