(Chelsea Update would like to thank Bobby H. Maldonado and Stephanie Willette for the information in this story.)
Once again, St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea will host the Saturday Chelsea Farmers Market and the Bushel Basket Market .
The Saturday market opens on April 30 from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. and the Bushel Basket Market opens Wednesday, May 4 from 2 to 6 p.m. Both will take place at the Palmer Lot on 222 S. Main St. and will feature fresh produce, live music, health education, activities for children, gardening tips, cooking demonstrations and giveaways. To celebrate the market opening, there will be a Market Basket Giveaway.
“We are excited to partner with these two farmers markets to provide surrounding communities with the resources needed to live happier, healthier lives,” said Nancy Graebner, president and CEO of St. Joseph Mercy Chelsea. “Through activities and events like this, Saint Joseph Mercy Health System is igniting healthy change in our communities.”
The hospital’s participation in the Chelsea farmers markets is part of Saint Joseph Mercy Health System’s commitment to local population health management. In 2015, the health system launched its “Join Me” wellness campaign, which seeks to start a conversation with local residents on how to improve the health and wellness of local communities. The campaign also provides access to healthy foods, including food for those most in need.
The Chelsea Farmers Market and Bushel Basket Market participate in food assistance programs including:
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) – Offers nutrition assistance to eligible, low-income individuals and families.
Prescription for Health – Program that connects patients to their local farmers market by allowing health care providers to write “prescriptions” for their patients to eat more fruits and vegetables. Patients can redeem prescriptions at the farmers market.
WIC Project Fresh – A program that makes fresh produce available to low-income, nutritionally-at-risk women and children, through Michigan farmers markets.
Senior Project Fresh – Provides eligible older adults with unprocessed, Michigan-grown products from authorized farmers markets and roadside stands throughout Michigan.
Double Up Food Bucks – Program doubles the value of federal nutrition assistance spent at participating markets and grocery stores, helping people bring home more locally grown fruits and vegetables.
“We truly see the spirit of our community at the farmers market,” says Stephanie Willette, manager of the Chelsea Farmers Market. “It’s a space where people from all backgrounds come together to eat, engage and learn. Local food producers are on hand to meet with people and answer any questions they may have about the foods they purchase.”
To learn more about what to expect each week at the Chelsea Farmers Market or the Bushel Basket Market, please e-mail [email protected], visit the website at www.chelseafarmersmkt.org or visit them on Facebook.
Chelsea Update also runs a weekly listing of the vendors who are expected to be at the markets and what they expect to have available. (See below.)
The Chelsea Farmers Market is always looking for volunteers. If interested, please e-mail [email protected]. Donations are also welcome. To donate, please join the “Friends of the Market” at www.chelseafarmersmkt.org/friends-of-the-market.
The markets are also sponsored by the 5 Healthy Towns Foundation.
Below is the list of vendors who are expected to be there. Please keep in mind that sometimes the vendors aren’t able to attend the market and that planned products are not available.
Kapnick Orchards: Asparagus, apples, apple cider, nut butters, fudge, apple butter and baked goods
Afeathermations: Natural media crafts for ceremony and celebration. “New medicine wheels, heal-the-earth wreaths, fans, rattles, and owls this week. Only mint smudge until later in the season.”
Fluffy Bottom Creamery: sheep’s milk cheeses and yogurt
Debbie’s Bead Design: jewelry
Two Tracks Acres: breakfast sausage, Italian sausage, chorizo, pork chops, ribs, polish sausage, pork roasts, ground pork, chicken
Goetz Greenhouse: lettuce, assorted greens, Swiss chard, kale, beets and asparagus, herb and veggie plants, hanging baskets and annual bedding flowers
Lands of Bru-Garick: eggs, vegetables, plant starts
Stone Hearth Bakery: bread, cookies, brownies
Heim Gardens: vegetables
Frog Hollar: vegetables, starts, pickled products
H and H Sugarbush: maple syrup
Dave’s Honey: honey
FalafelHummus: hummus and falafel
Fresh: fresh roasted coffee
La Baguette: baked goods, baguettes
Bean Creek Cookie Company: cookies, baked goods
Thistle Blossom Herbals: Salves, infused herbal medicine oils, moisturizer oils and lotion bars and our famous lavender linen spray
Bordine Farms: flower bulbs
Brieland Shoultz: eggs, vegetables, soap, jam
Elysium Soap: soap
Herbology Organics: all natural, eco-friendly and sustainably sourced Apothecary items that are custom infused with therapeutic grade Essential Oils, Botanical’s and Extracts, ranging from Personal Bath and Body Care items, to Home and Pet Care products.
Robin Hills Farm: vegetables, plant starts
BS Designs: barnwood art (acrylic painting on 100-year-old Michigan barn wood).
Renovatio Woodworks: hand-crafted wood furniture
Carolyn Myer: jams and jellies
Elderwoods: birdhouses and eggs
Friends of the District Library
Chelsea Area Garden Club will be there to offer garden advice since so many of our vendors have seedlings available for gardens
