First there was clamoring demand—so much that both 2012 mayoral candidates ran on promises to prioritize a farmers market and the things that come with it, like overall walkability and foodie friendliness.
Then there was so much input and investment that an advisory board stuffed with city leaders, business people, produce vendors, farmers, gardeners and über-involved residents started meeting months ago to draw bylaws touching on everything from the importance of organics to live entertainment to market coordinates.
The ad hoc committee, as the assemblage of foodie shareholders was called, then boiled a list of applying managers down to a pair of finalists and recommended Iris Peppard of Everyone's Harvest, who also manages markets for Pacific Grove, Marina and Natividad Hospital, among others.
Only an apparent formality remained: Carmel's Community Action and Cultural Committee had to approve the ad hoc committee's recommendation.
Oh, Carmel-by-the-Controver-Sea.
I think the CACC was spooked after visiting the Marina market and seeing something that wasn't as fancy as they'd like. (Its members may not make it to Marina much.) And confident their pick would be a safer bet financially.
Fortunately Jerry Lami and Redwood City-based West Coast Farmers Market Association have qualities to recommend them, including his successful start running markets in wealthy Cali communities and his hire of Jan Taylor from the California Farmers Market Association to run it. (Check out the second half of the above post for more of his credentials.)
And fortunately, they have finally found a start date: next Thursday, June 20.
But there are still curveballs in play.
The biggest one: the strange hours they chose, 10am-2pm Thursdays.
That makes it hard on working schmuck nine-to-fivers, and conflicts with what I heard from Lami and city leaders looking to drive evening restaurant business.
The Monterey Peninsula College market is 10am-2pm, but that's got a much more central and accessible spot, plus plenty of midday parking right next to it.
For her part, Taylor isn't worried about drawing enough people.
“I'm more worried about walking space for everybody," she says, "so they don't bump into each other.”
Another curveball: While Lami planned on sticking exclusively with San Benito, Santa Cruz and Monterey County vendors, the preliminary list of vendors the Weekly received from Taylor has several from elsewhere. (Which makes sense when it comes to certain produce, but makes the preceding policy announcement strange.)
Here's that list:
Garden Variety Cheese • Royal Oaks • sheep cheese
Serendipity Farms • Carmel Valley • mixed veggies
P&K Strawberries • Watsonville • strawberries
Rodriguez Ranch • Watsonville • strawberries and raspberries
Thomas Farm • Aptos • flowers and veggies
Green Valley Floral • Watsonville • cut roses
McLellan Botanicals • Watsonville • potted orchids
Far West Fungi • Moss Landing • exotic mushrooms
Moon Meadow Beef • Pescadero • steaks and chuck
Country Rhodes Family Farm • Visalia • veggies and tree fruit
G&S Corn • Brentwood • corn
Cipponeri Farm • Hughson • tree fruit and melons
J&J Farms • Hughson • stone fruit and citrus
Sara Rubin contributed to this report.