Mid-Michigan Dining

• 1619 E. Kalamazoo St.
• Lansing, MI 48912
• (517) 367-2468
• Website

The Allen Street Farmer's Market on the corner of E. Kalamazoo and Allen Sts.

A few weeks ago, I wrote a review at the Ann Arbor Farmer’s Market (review HERE) and raved about the selection of peppers and fresh herbs.  Jackiecat was quick to point out that a lot of those same ingredients were available at Markets here in town.  She suggested both the Allen Street Farmer’s Market and the Meridian Farmer’s Market. 

I had heard about the Allen Street Farmer’s Market, but haven’t been there yet this summer.  J goes to work at 3:00 and the Market opens at 2:30 so there was really no time for us to go together.  I suppose I could always go by myself, but she eats most of the produce and I’m not very good at picking out what’s good and what’s not.

Since it was recommended I check out, I set down the Wii remote and turned Mario Kart off for a while, jumped in my truck and went shopping.  I found the Allen Street Market on the corner of East Kalamazoo and Allen Streets.  The Farmer’s Market is in a parking lot on the corner.  I saw signs for parking and followed the around the corner to find another parking lot.  It was a pretty tight fit, but I parked then walked over to the tents to see what I could find.

There was a little more than a dozen vendors selling everything from soap to meat to fresh produce.  I never did find the same selection of fresh herbs, but I did find a lot of stuff I wanted to buy.  I stopped at one booth and picked up a bunch of potatoes.  I ran into a little problem when I went to pay though.  I forgot to stop at the ATM and get cash and I didn’t have enough on me to even buy one basket of spuds.  Damnit!  I had plans to buy some eggs, some potatoes and some more berries for J. 

Since I didn’t know where the closest ATM was, I just decided to call it a night.  Maybe I’ll run down to Holt tomorrow and try the Market there.  The thing I really liked about the Allen Street Farmer’s Market is that it’s really a neighborhood market.  There were quite a few people walking around at 4:00 looking for fresh, local food.  I would love to see more Farmer’s like this during the week.  The big ones on Saturday morning are nice, but these little ones add a lot to an older neighborhood.