Aaaaaaaah, fall in Florida. In some parts of the country, chilly denizens dream of summer all year round – but in here, fall is the real golden time, when the weather becomes friendlier and the tourists pack up, leaving the still-warm beaches to the locals. As if we weren’t already spoiled, fall is also a great season for locally-grown produce, with cooler weather making way for broccoli, lettuce, carrots, and an array of fresh herbs like basil, cilantro, and fennel.
If your mouth is watering at the thought of fresh, locally-grown produce, there’s a great place in Hyde Park to scratch your itch. Now in its third year, the Hyde Park Village Fresh Market expertly serves the resurgence of food-consciousness over the last ten years, and the first Market of the Fall is coming October 6th. The Market returns the first Sunday of every month from 10am to 3pm, with more than a hundred vendors, local food, handicrafts, live music, and some consistently great people-watching.
Everything old, it seems, is new again. Many methods of handcrafting food and household goods fell out of favor when our grandparents’ generation happily adopted convenience foods and manufactured goods. But in the U.S. and elsewhere, a movement for more local and organic food has formed around activists like Michael Pollan, whose book The Omnivore’s Dilemma became the bible for a food movement pushing for more local, healthy food.
Vendors will bring herbs and plants from Lakeland, hydroponic produce, eggs from Seffner, locally-made chicken coops, organic fertilizer, and more. The Fresh Market also offer a unique Kid’s Market where sprouting foodies and crafters can sell goods they helped create. With 10 to 15 booths each month, the Kid’s Market aims to foster an entrepreneurial drive in kids, and also, hopefully, teach them something about the value of creating something with their own hands.
You could say that the Hyde Park Fresh Market offers just what every omnivore needs to solve their dilemma. Head out to Hyde Park Village on October 6th to get a taste of the creative eclecticism of one of Tampa’s most exciting neighborhoods!
