This Sunday marks the opening of the 25th season of south Minneapolis’s greatest farmers market: The Kingfield Farmers Market.
I’ve been going to the Kingfield market for 16 years, since the days it was in a parking lot behind Anodyne Coffeehouse (RIP). Now, it’s outgrown that lot and moved to the north end of MLK Park at 40th and Nicollet. The market has 40 vendors and welcomes thousands of visitors every week, and that’s for good reason. It’s more than a market. It’s an event.
As a Kingfield market pro, here are a few reasons to visit the market on opening weekend—or any Sunday after that.
It’s More Than a Market
When I go to the Kingfield Farmers Market, half the time I bring a picnic blanket. The park is beautiful, with lots of space to sprawl out with a picnic you can fully assemble from treats at the market.
That’s because Kingfield is a vendor-forward market that’s focused on bringing a variety of different options for you. “We really try to tailor to everyone and have a good balance with everything. It’s not just getting your weekly groceries. It is a special thing for kids to get a treat, sit in the grass, go to the pool,” says Mara Wack, development manager of the market.
Pool? Yes, during the hot days of summer, the Kingfield market has a wading pool right by where live music is playing. You and the kids can soak up the sun in between snacking on artisan pop-tarts or arepas. Lots of market goers come in to get produce and dip out, but if you do that at Kingfield, you’re missing the point.
There Are Sooo Many Sweet Treats
The variety of sweet treats at a market is a make or break; if a market doesn’t have a plethora of sugary goodies, it’s not the market for me. The Kingfield Farmers Market has so many goodies, like my personal pick for cinnamon swirl bread in the Twin Cities: Behind the Breadbox. Owner Tom Nechodomu tells me it took three years to perfect the recipe. “It's by far my top seller and I can never keep enough on the shelves,” he says.
Another top seller at the market is pop-tart guru Fruit & Grain. Owner Emily Lauer has been making her fan-favorite blueberry lemon curd pop-tart for nine years. You have to make sure you come early for it, because as Lauer tells me, “We sell out on this flavor every single time.”
My final sweet-treat pick at the market is a hyper-seasonal treat from Eat Me Bakery. Kelsey Endres makes lilac mini bundts during the short season when lilacs are in bloom. The process is time intensive, requiring her to carefully remove the stems from the blooms, infuse them into syrup, and then infuse that into buttercream. These won’t be available opening weekend, but will likely arrive around week three or so; keep an eye on Eat Me Bakery’s Instagram for details. I recommend grabbing one of these treats and eating it alongside a Red Wolf Chai in the park.
The Best Goat Cheese in the Country Is Sold Here
If you leave the Kingfield Farmers Market without a batch of LoveTree Farmstead Cheese, you have failed your first task of the market.
You might not know that most goat cheese is made from milk that comes from large-scale dairies—and most of the producers of the actual cheese, even local ones, don’t raise the goat they use to make the cheese. To find goat cheese made from small herds is rarer and rarer each year, but LoveTree still does it.
LoveTree is my favorite goat milk cheese anywhere, with multiple varieties—just pick the one that best suits whatever salad or toast you want to add cheese into. My favorite way to eat this cheese at the market is on a loaf of bread from Behind the Breadbox. I bring a knife to the market so I can slice the bread in the park and slather on the cheese with friends. (Note: LoveTree will not be at the market opening weekend, but will return for future weeks.)
You Can Sharpen Your Knives
And speaking of bringing knives to the market… I know that some of you have never sharpened the knives in your knife block. If this is you, I want you to lovingly pack those knives up right now and bring them with you the next time you go to Kingfield. My man Stephen Aysta is the only man allowed to touch my knives—and I’ve dated chefs who know how to sharpen them. No other man will do. Sorry, guys! It’s Stephen at Tera Forge or bust.
I trust Stephen with custom knives that are worth more than my first car and if I can do that, you can trust him with the never-sharpened knives sitting in your block. He won’t shame you for bringing knives to him in any condition and he’s excited to help people understand how to better care for their knives. He also will do kitchen or hair shears, scissors, and hatchets. It’s $8 to get your chef’s knife sharpened, he can get it back to you by the time you’re ready to leave, and when he’s done with it, it will be sharper than the day you bought it. That’s a promise.
And of Course, There’s Produce
You can definitely go to the Kingfield Farmers Market and have a great time just listening to music, hanging in the park, and getting treats. But farmers markets are all about the farmers, and at Kingfield, you’ll find some of the best around. Whether you’re looking for specialty goods like mushrooms from Wild North Mushrooms, salmon from Wild Run Salmon, pastured egg or poultry from Ferris Family Farm, or the freshest produce or flowers from a plethora of small-scale farms, Kingfield has it all. The one hitch? Eggs always sell out early. So you want to make sure you get there around opening to snag one from the few vendors that sell them.
If you don’t have Sunday morning plans, now you do. Pack up your knives, grab a picnic blanket, and enjoy that perfect 68 degree day at the market with your family or friends. Trust me. You don’t want to miss it. You can see the full list of vendors here to amp yourself for opening weekend.
Kingfield Farmers Market
When: Sundays from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Dates: May 17 to October 25
Where: 4055 Nicollet Ave. S., Minneapolis
