Waterloo farmer's market moves to new location

WATERLOO — The Waterloo Farmers and Artisans River Market has moved to a new location. At the end of June, the market moved from downtown Waterloo to Firemen’s Park in Waterloo. Becky Armstrong, the market manager, is excited about the future of FARM in Waterloo.

“My vision of a market is that people can go to the market and get what they need for the week,” Armstrong said.

Armstrong created FARM in 2021 in Marshall, and is trying to grow the market in Waterloo to the same model of a diverse set of vendors and a strong community between buyers and sellers at the farmers market.

To Armstrong, her farmers market feels like a tight-knit community despite the different backgrounds of the vendors. She said it is “such an eclectic group of people who come from all different walks of life. But when we come to FARM, we are all family.”

Amie Sam is originally from Gambia. She has had a booth at the Waterloo farmer’s market for five years, making cultural food out of basic ingredients.

She sells her food at farmers markets in Waterloo, Marshall and Sun Prairie.

Tonya Mortimer has been baking for forever, but is just now starting to make a business out of it. She started selling at the Waterloo farmer market earlier this summer. And Gill has been selling produce from his farm in Cambridge at the farmers market for ten years.

Armstrong said she has about fifteen local vendors who come to FARM whenever they can. She welcomes anyone who wants to make a good product. Armstrong said FARM is different from other farmers markets because they take any type of products including clothing, crafts, tupperware, cutting boards, jewelry and traditional food items.

“I don’t care what you do,” Armstrong said. “What plays a role is that you’re a good person who smiles and has a good product.”

The goal of FARM is to make it a community event, according to Armstrong. The organizers want visitors to feel welcome to drop by after work and take their kids to the park, then shop around the market. Despite the new location, the hours are the same: FARM in Waterloo will still be on Wednesdays from 3-7 p.m.

Armstrong said she has gotten many questions about how this will affect the Marshall farmer’s market. She emphasized that FARM in Marshall will not be changing locations or times. It will still be on Sundays from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in Marshall.