Nursery business files plans to open farmers’ market in West Lawrence

It is spring, which of course means that my crop of crabgrass soon will take off. (That sound you heard was my neighbor who reads this throwing her computer across the kitchen.)

But maybe a different type of crop comes to mind for you with the changing of the season. Fresh produce, it appears, is on the minds of more people than ever these days.

Plans have been filed at Lawrence City Hall for yet another farmers’ market.

The folks at Clinton Parkway Nursery — right at the corner of Clinton Parkway and Wakarusa Drive — have filed plans for a farmers’ market every Wednesday evening from May through August.

If you are keeping track at home, there will be farmers’ markets on Tuesday (Downtown Lawrence Farmers’ Market), Wednesday (Clinton Parkway Nursery, assuming it is approved), Thursday (Cottin’s Hardware near 19th and Massachusetts), and Saturday (Downtown Lawrence Farmers’ Market.)

Ann Peuser, an owner of Clinton Parkway Nursery, said people are creating a strong demand for locally grown fruits and vegetables. And she said indications are that West Lawrence residents want a market that allows them to buy a little closer to their neighborhoods.

The Downtown Lawrence Farmers’ Market has had a West Lawrence market in the past. Within the last two years it had a market in the parking lot of the shopping center on the southwest corner of Sixth and Wakarusa. But as that shopping center started to fill up with new tenants, the market lost its lease. I think the idea of a westside market, though, was starting to gain some momentum.

We’ll find out soon enough how much of an appetite the community has for farmers’ markets. If approved, the Clinton Parkway market will open May 15. Peuser said plans call for the market to be open from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays.

She said she expects to have about a dozen vendors — they’ll focus on actual produce, not crafts and such — and she already has “quite a list” of producers who are interested in the market. The market will be in a portion of the nursery’s parking lot.

While the Clinton Parkway market won’t get going until mid-May, the Downtown Lawrence Farmers’ Market in the 800 block of New Hampshire has set its opening day as Saturday, April 13. I don’t yet see an opening date listed for the Cottin’s Hardware market on its Web site, but it indicates its outdoor market (it has a small indoor market currently) will open in May.

Although I considered it, I won’t have a booth at any of them. But if you need some starter shoots of crabgrass, just get in touch with me and we can dicker. If you buy in bulk, I bet my neighbor will even finance the deal.