East Lake Farmer's Market

^{LefTeas combines aromatic teas with a sense of humor and wit}

Just inside the Atlanta city limits is the East Lake Farmers Market, located off Memorial on the corner of 2nd Ave and Hosea L Williams Dr. in the East Lake neighborhood. They are in their second year of having a farmer’s market, and hopefully will grow and expand. They are set up in a 150X100 foot fenced in abandoned parking lot, and there are about a dozen vendors under what is becoming trademark folding white canopies. They are on site from 9-1 on Saturdays, but many of the vendors have websites, email addresses and operate buying clubs to broaden their access to customers. Many of them state they have tables at at least three other markets. I am certain as I work my way around I will see them again at other venues.

The Saturday we went was overcast and not too hot, which was good since the market is set on asphalt. Everyone was very friendly, though not too many got out of their chairs as we came to the tables. Produce was very sparse. I wonder if local farmers are having issues because of the heat and lack of rain lately. The tomatoes available were only grape and cherry sized and not very pretty. Same with the bell peppers: all the fruits were small and gnarled. There was a vendor selling free range chicken at $6/pound and eggs at $5/dozen, but she was out of eggs. She said the heat had led to the hens laying poorly and the supply was stretched thin between the buying club and the four markets they attended. I guess I am going to have to do a real side-by-side taste test to justify eggs at $5 a dozen when organic, cage-free, free-range eggs are still $3.15 in the supermarkets. I get the part about supporting local farmers, and it’s not like I eat a ton of eggs a week. I’m glad the USDA has certified them to candle their own eggs and slaughter their own chicken, but I’m not sure it explains why a chicken breast from a local source is 3X the cost of chicken in the stores, and even more expensive than organic, grassfed bison.

What ended up drawing us in, and where we spent our money, was a stand with various succulents run by Kurt Straudt, a self-described garden artist, who also offers classes in making pots and planting and taking care of succulents. He had about thirty kinds of plants for sale and we ended up buying the one we were least likely to kill.

We also bought some herbal tea from the LefTeas stand. The woman manning the spot let us taste the “tea of the day”, Communi-Tea Service, and had sample tins of other teas for us to sniff. They all smelled great, even the one with coconut and vanilla. All her teas are hand blended with organic ingredients. All seventeen “varie-teas” have a left-leaning, tongue-n-cheek theme and a cute image on the bag. I bought a bag of Balanced Bill for $12, which seemes like a lot until you realized you forgot someone’s birthday and you run to Teavana in the mall and end up paying $50-$60 for half a pound of some exotic fruit tea that no one ends up drinking anyway. I’m now thinking ahead to getting gifts of bags of tea with flavor, and political humor.

We stopped by the popsicle man who had all natural, homemade popsicles. S. got a buttermilk/lemon and I got a watermelon/strawberry and they were delicious. They really tasted like summer, full of fruit and sweetness and the delightful contrast of hot and sweaty with cool and refreshing.

Last year the East Lake Farmer’s Market claimed to average 100 people a day. We were there about 30 minutes and saw about 15 people come and go. They boast how the market has helped what was once a crime-ridden area, and I’m not so sure that is the best way to promote your market, but there is no doubt it is a crucible for change in the area. This interview gives some idea how challenging it was to get the market started, and how much local support it needs to grow and thrive. It was a nice place to check out with friendly people and more great local products to try that we would not have found had we not ventured downtown.