Kenneth E. Harker
2010 Bloomington Community Farmer's Market

The Bloomington Community Farmer's Market is held every Saturday morning from April through November, in downtown Bloomington, Indiana. It is the largest farmer's market I've been to, and I think one of the largest in the country. Despite being a warmer than average day in July, the market was doing very brisk business. These photos were all taken with my iPhone camera.

These photos are copyright © 2010 Kenneth E. Harker. All rights reserved.

	We got to the market around 10:00 AM, when it had already been open for two hours. The market is located in a large parking lot next to state office buildings. Most of the spots were covered parking, which had a nice benefit of shade for the vendors.
	This farmer had a wide variety of produce, as well as cut sunflowers. Beets, cabbage, broccoli, squash, cucumbers, beans, potatoes, and berries.
	Many, many people were at the market.
	In addition to produce, some vendors sold locally-made products like jams and honeys. There was also an entire section of the market for hot food cart vendors.
	Fresh cut culinary herbs.
	This vendor only sold eggs. I liked his hat very much.
	Lotuses are water plants that grow natively in the lakes of Indiana (and throughput North America). The flower's botanical name is Nelumbo lutea. The lotuses are the larger yellow flowers in these arrangements.
	A vendor selling local honey.
	Squash, cucumbers, potatoes, cabbage.
	Chantarelle mushrooms, sometimes called golden chantarelles, botanically known as Chantarellus cibarius. Considered one of the best edible wild mushrooms, chantarelles can be confused with the similar-looking poisonous Jack O'Lantern mushroom (Omphalotus olearius), so it's best to source them from a reliable supplier.
	Golden cayenne peppers. Hot peppers seemed to be quite popular at the market.
	A typical selection of summer produce: tomatoes, bell peppers, blueberries, blackberries, carrots, green beans, and sweet corn.
	This farmer had blackberries and onions.
	Garlic, fresh basil, and fingerling potatoes.
	Kale, carrots, and basil.
	Rhubarb!
	Tomatoes and peaches. Lots of peaches.
	Green beans and wax beans.
	Hot peppers.
	Sweet corn. Corn is one of the two most important crops in Indiana. The other is soybeans, which you don't see very often in farmer's markets
	Hot peppers, mild peppers, and cherry tomatoes.
	Dried pussy willows. Historically, branches of pussy willows were used in Palm Sunday religious services in northern and eastern Europe as a replacement for palm leaves. Nowadays, they're mostly just used for decoration.
	The Chile Woman was selling dried peppers, fresh peppers, and even potted pepper plants if you want to grow your own.
	A purple jalapeño plant.
	A variety of fresh hot peppers.
	Peaches.
	Genovese basil and fresh tomatoes. Perfect for homemade pizzas.