Farmers market back with more

September 10, 2009

The farmers market in Old Town La Quinta returns later this month for the full season.

The Certified Farmers' Market starts its second year on Sept. 27.

"We love being back in Old Town," farmers market manager Paul Palodichuk said last week. "They have been incredibly supportive, and it is one of the best places to have a farmers market."

The farmers market will return this year with live music, vendors and chef demonstrations. It also returns with five more vendors and new special events, and it will expand across the entire development.

The farmers market started in La Quinta in November 2008, a month after its regular season usually starts, Palodichuk said.

An average of between 500 and 1,000 people packed Old Town La Quinta on Sundays for the market, which included 18 vendors.

It has transformed Sunday, a normally slow day in Old Town La Quinta, into one of the shopping development's busiest days, leasing and property manager Leslie Locken said.

"We couldn't be happier, and we know that it is a benefit not only to our retailers but also to our local community," she said.

Old Town La Quinta plans to maximize the successful farmers market with vendors in front of retailers all across Main Street from Avenida Bermudas to Desert Club Drive.

The expansion will help maximize the visibility of several new Old Town La Quinta stores, including the stationery store Paper Paper Stationers, Locken said.

Farmers market officials are working with city officials to develop two green sustainable days in April and November, Palodichuk said.

The festivities would include information about water and electricity conservation. The events are in the works and more details will be made available at a later date.

All 18 vendors from last year's farmers market are slated to return this year, Palodichuk said. At least five new vendors will join them.

New vendors include the Malibu Olive Company, based out of Malibu and run by Indian Wells resident Robert Jaye.

Jaye will sell his company's California-made, super-premium, organic extra-virgin olive oil and accessories.

Jaye said he wanted to be a part of the farmers market in La Quinta ever since he visited it on the market's last day of the season in May.

"This is a perfect place for us, and it is a really nice environment," he said. "Their winding streets and their music, I thought was just fantastic."