Taking over Main Street from the first Saturday in May to the last in October, the Moscow Farmers Market has long been a staple in the local community. Naturally, it won voters’ hearts, with a landslide vote of 55.1%.
Decades-old Argonaut coverage marks July 31, 1976, as the birth of Moscow’s market, originally managed by the Moscow Co-op. In a parking lot on Third and Jefferson, Argonaut reporter Bill Loftus sets the scene.
“An old man walked up and asked for the manager. Not finding anyone, he walked back to his wife and sat down while she tried to sell the small bunches of watercress that they had gathered ‘in a small, secret valley the day before, where lots of it grew,’ Twenty-five cents a bunch was their price.”
From its humble roots, the market boomed. It is now a signature event of the city, led by Amanda Argona as the community events manager.
The market is open from May through October every year, though this doesn’t stop people from asking how long it runs, Argona laughed.
All the vendors who sell at the market are local to the Northwest and located within 200 miles of Moscow.
Moscow’s market is one of the oldest in Idaho, if not the oldest. Argona explained that it used to be small businesses selling out of the back of their trucks. Now some businesses have been involved with the market for 20-plus years.
Founder Kate Jaeckel is looking forward to Orchard Farm Soap’s twentieth year at the farmers market.
“It’s pretty wild, all sorts of people have become customers over the years,” Jaeckel said. “You would never imagine that it would be the farmers market that is the place where people from all over the country come and bring our soap back.”
Orchard Farm sells a variety of natural face and body products, made from botanicals right in Moscow.
“We specifically moved to the area because my husband’s a farmer and we knew that there was a great farmers market … and that there was going to be a place for us to sell produce,” Jaeckel said.
A requirement of the market, Jaeckel explained, is that either the owner or their family must run their stand.
For her own kids, the market has brought more intention to their passion projects. Jaeckel’s daughter inspired Orchard’s own seasonal flower sales when fundraising for a school trip.
“She helped me at the farmers market and she would get to keep a portion of our sales every week,” Jaeckel said. “(Eventually) she put that into her college fund.”
Now, the farm delivers flowers directly to doorsteps from June to mid-August.
“Both of our kids really thrived by growing up seeing the work that their parents did,” Jaeckel said.
As local produce changes from month to month, Argona recommended “eating the seasons through the market.” By sourcing locally, what’s available depends on the time of year.
“We’ve got our vendors that we visit for the quality of product,” Argona said. “We know where we’re getting our onions from, we know where we’re getting our basil.”
The best-kept secret of the market — Pokey Creek Farm’s wild-grown cranberries.
“It’s a small window, so you gotta be on top of it,” Argona warned in anticipation for cranberry season in fall. “People don’t realize that that is a thing that you can get in Idaho, most people think of huckleberries. So I think that’s kind of unique and interesting.”
Other locally-grown products she recommended: heirloom apples, ginger and artichokes.
If the first priority is the produce, second is the social environment, allowing attendees to make a day out of being in Moscow.
“It’s your outdoor opportunity to get groceries, but then also maybe pick up a little something or just meet people downtown and say, ‘let’s grab a cup of coffee,’” Argona said. “Sometimes that’s all that people do … they’re socializing, they’re moving and then they’re amongst other people.”
Bouncing back from the pandemic, Jaeckel believed that people have a new appreciation for the community connection of the market.
“A part of the culture of our town is to shop the farmers market,” Jaeckel said. “There’s no way my business would have made it this far or succeeded without that local support.”
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Haadiya Tariq can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @haadiyatariq