What’s Fresh and New at Carmel Farmers Market this Year?
April 2019
Writer // Janelle Morrison Photography // Courtesy of CFM
After a phenomenal 20 th anniversary season, the dedicated volunteers with Carmel Farmers Market (CFM) are counting their blessings and planning for another incredible season. Last year’s highlights include record-breaking attendance for the market and two of the market’s vendors celebrated 20 years with CFM.
Market-goers already know that CFM brings its customers the freshest produce and greatest variety of any farmers market in Indiana, and the market is excited to bring its customers the same wide variety of products this year as well.
This year, CMF will have 74 vendors, a great entertainment lineup for guests to enjoy while they shop the market and an impressive list of “special events,” including the return of the “Big Green Eggfest” that will take place June 8 th and the Firehouse Cookoff on July 27th.
The market’s Presenting Sponsor, IU Health North, is going to have a specialist at the market every fourth Saturday to answer specific medical questions and to give a presentation.
CFM President Ron Carter shared with us what is “fresh” and brand new for CFM and its customers this season.
“The Carmel Farmers Market has always thought of itself as one of the best, maybe the best, farmers market in America,” Carter said. “Now poised to begin its 21 st season on Saturday, May 4, at the Center Green, the Market’s volunteers feel they finally have a website to match. The site, which went online early last month, was designed and developed by Christina Hunter of True Communications.”
Carter shared that True Communications was chosen by a committee of Market volunteers through an extensive search process. During the search, which took two months, the committee reviewed and graded 10 different firms.
According to Carter, who was one of the search committee members, “Christina’s company was chosen for several reasons. We were drawn to the work she had previously done for other clients, especially the
sites she designed and produced for Carmel Christkindlmarkt and The Ice at Center Green.
Those sites were elegant in design yet very usable. Once we began talking with Christina, we found that her design sense was really a strong point. She is both a graphic artist in the true meaning of the term while she is also very savvy technically.”
Carter went on to say, “We had been plagued with a series of web developers who fell into three categories. The first were those individuals or companies who were very good from a technical standpoint but had no design sense whatsoever.
The second type of entity with whom we had worked possessed good design skills but gave us a site that our volunteers could not readily work with. So, the content of our site was never up-to-date. Then we had one developer who we found was not good in
either area. That was a real fiasco.”
Carter further explained that Hunter incorporated the color and excitement of the market in the designof the site while creating a user-friendly interface that volunteers and customers can easily work with
and navigate.
Carter added, “She did that on time and right within the budget she had set out at the beginning of our work with her. We couldn’t be more pleased with her work or prouder of our site. We now have a site
that matches the overall quality of the best farmers market in America.”
Don’t miss the opening of the 21 st season of the Carmel Farmers Market on Saturday, May 4 at the Center Green in Carmel. Stop by and see us at our Carmel Monthly tent, and remember, “Get Fresh on Saturday!”
For more information and calendar of events for CFM, visit its brand new website at carmelfarmersmarket.com.