Round and About Akron

Looking for things to do in Akron this weekend?

Homegrown Saturday at Lock 3 will feature more than the fabulous vegetables for sale:
This weekend we are having a sundial craft and orienteering challenge in thes prouts area. There is clay marble making with the museum. A super cool guy is coming down with his handmade game exhibit as well. Kids can play them too! They are each beautiful works of art.As always, the glorious Tom Dayton is broadcasting, $5 pancake breakfasts and delicious produce. One of the jam/jelly vendors is supposed to do a cooking demo as well.

If art is your thing, try the Northside Art Walk 5-10 pm. Trolleys transport walkers from site to site if they so feel the urge. You might want to start at the Red Light Galleries, so-named to honor its origins as a brothel. Climb up the stairs between Luigi's and The Northside Bar and you'll find yourself facing a long hallway, with tiny rooms along each side. Now instead of seedy mattresses, the rooms house artists who rent the spaces to work and to show their art. Pictured below is one such display.

Akron Farmers' Markets

There is nothing like biting into a locally grown and perfectly ripe peach! I bought a basket of peaches from the display you see here at Homegrown Saturday at Lock 3, which is this year's ABJ and city of Akron sponsored Farmers Market. For the past couple of years, the farmer's market was located across from the Beacon building on Thursday afternoons through rush hour, making it very convenient to stop in for fresh veggies, baked goods, live plants, cut flowers and other delights including organic cheeses and meats for those who consume those products.

This year, a consortium of growers pulled out of the downtown venue and moved to Stan Hywet -- read about it here. That market is open on Thursdays, and I have yet to visit it. I would have to make a special trip across town to get there, and it just hasn't been at all convenient.

The city continues to host a minimal farmer's market at Cascade Plaza during lunch hours on Wednesday and Friday. I have made it down for this one, and have picked up some nice fruit and veggies there.

Last Saturday I finally made it to my first "Homegrown Saturday" at Lock 3. Lots of great veggies and fruits, including the best corn I've had this season!

The major problem with Homegrown Saturdays is that nobody knows about it. Whether it can attract enough people to downtown on a Saturday morning is still up in the air. If you support local farms and healthy foods and you live in Akron, here' s your chance. Homegrown Saturdays have a huge list of activities and events, which you can access here.

This week's events feature some science activities for the youngsters while the adults shop.

Every week you will find the following things at Homegrown Saturdays:

Farmer's and growers from 9 AM - 1 PM
WAKR's Tom Dayton's gardening show broadcast live 8 - 10 AM
Beacon Journal cooking demonstrations from 10:30 - noon
Pancake breakfast from 8:30 - 11:30 AM -- $5
The Akron History Exhibition from 9:00 - 2:oo PM - Free!
Trolley rides on Main Street from Spaghetti Warehouse to Northside Train Station

Farmer's Market to return to Lock 3

Akron will retain its downtown farmer's market co-sponsoring with the Akron Beacon Journal. It will be on Saturdays from 9 AM to noon or 1 PM, is what I'm hearing. I don't have all the details such as whether any of the vendors from the last two summers will be participating.

It was reported in February that many of the vendors would be moving into a farmer's market to be held at Stan Hywet, over where the rich folks live, the ones who can afford organic cheeses and heirloom tomatoes. And indeed, The Cuyahoga Valley Countryside Conservatory will be operating the Stan Hywet market:

Time: Thursdays 3:30-7:00 p.m. Dates: July 12th — September 27th

They will also operate a farmer's market in Peninsula on Saturdays, so it looks like those valley farmer's goods might not show up at Lock 3. It will be interesting to see who is there and how many will be vending organic foods. I will be shopping there and will let you know what's for sale!

It also looks like the farmer's markets for downtown workers will continue at Cascade Plaza this summer as well. on Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 AM to noon, starting July 6th. The more we can buy locally, the less fuel we are responsible for burning, so be sure to visit your nearest farmers' market this summer. Take the time to chat with the farmers. Find out how much or little they use petroleum-based fertilizers and pesticides. Awareness begins with
one-to-one contact and dialogue.

And don't forget to take your cloth bags to the market!

Downtown Akron to lose the Farmer's Market?

Akron's downtown farmer's market is moving to Stan Hywet as reported on Feb 1st in the Akron Beacon Journal. According to the report, they want to move where people live. People don't live downtown. Well some do, but not the kind that can afford heirloom vegetables and organic cheese.

The city is vowing to put together some kind of farmer's market downtown. The original idea was to provide fresh produce for downtown workers to purchase on their way home from work. The market used to be at Cascade plaza from mid morning to mid afternoon -- two days a week, as I remember. The farmers who showed up were definitely not the trendy type. But the corn was fresh and the tomatoes juicy, and there's nothing like a big pile of freshly picked green beans.

The city moved it to Lock 3 on Saturday mornings for one summer. That was a very inconvenient time for me and I only made it down there once. I liked it best when it was across from the Beacon Journal on the east side along the old loading docks. It was easy to park and get into it there, and I enjoyed the stroll up and back along all the stalls.

Urban dwellers deserve the opportunity to shop for locally farmed produce. There really are people who live downtown, many of them live diminished lives in the old Mayflower Hotel and the odd rooming houses that still rent rooms by the month. All of these neglected citizens would surely benefit from having fresh food rather than the over-processed and excessively-packaged food stuffs they obtain from the Aldi Store long blocks away on South Main St.

There are no grocery stores within walking distance from downtown Akron. The elderly residents and the mentally and physically handicapped must take a bus ride to get to their food sources. Let us hope the farmer's market down town can continue in some form. And again I say, it is too bad we can't have something that goes all year long, like Cleveland's West Side Market.

I took the above photo at the West Side Market last December.