Karen Hoff and her husband Joe have run the Salad Garden Greenhouse stand at the Dane County Farmers' Market for 12 years. They sell a variety of plants and vegetables and said they are excited about this year's market.
\Weather has been much better than last year, and we are looking forward to a good year,"" Karen said.
The farmers' market, which has been a tradition for 31 years, will begin again this Saturday. The market will run Saturdays circling Capitol Square, from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Wednesdays on Martin Luther King Boulevard, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Due to the opening of the market, Metro will be putting a bus detour into effect until November. The detour will occur Saturdays during market time and will consist of routes operating one block further off of the Capitol Square on Fairchild, Dayton, Webster and Doty streets.
Some vendors, due to the type of products they sell, are unable to participate for the full duration of the market.
Roger and Gail Hermanson run their stand for about six weeks from mid-September through Halloween. They sell a variety of pumpkins, squash, gourds and Indian Corn, which have a growing season that only allows them to attend the market in the fall.
Julie Dickison and Terry Romeo, who own the Allen Creek Trout Farm stand, have participated in the market since 1986. They sell smoked and fresh salmon from their stand, and said they have never missed a Saturday at the market in 17 years. The market's starting date does not have an effect on their merchandise.
""The date is good for us because we have a product year round,"" Dickison said.
Another longtime vendor and former Market Manager Mary Carpenter has just written a book about the market. Carpenter will be holding a signing at the market May 3 for the recent release of the book.
""Meeting the people who will be eating my food-that is very special, and the vendors are all back-to-the-landers, very basic people. I am impressed with the people the most,"" Carpenter said.
The vendors all agreed that they are looking forward to the people involved in the market, whether they be patrons or other sellers.
""The neatest thing for me is to see the variety of people. You meet people who want to take pictures because they have never seen a pumpkin,"" Roger Hermanson said.
