Farmers Market Returning to Downtown

Starting June 4, vendors will return to Woodstock Street in downtown Crystal Lake for a weekly farmers market on Saturdays by the train tracks. Two to three times per month the market will feature entertainment in the gazebo.

The market will feature a wide variety of produce, dairy, eggs, meats, breads, honey, and other items.

“It’s not too spread out. We have everything all together,” Diana Kenney, executive director of said.

Last year’s attendants can look forward to seeing familiar faces.

“All the old vendors are coming back,” Kenney said. “It’s almost like we form a family of farmers, or that it has become a faithful gathering of farmers. We don’t get a lot of turnover.”

One of those familiar faces will be Sue Rekenthaler of National Farm Stand, an organic farm in Richmond, IL.

“As an organic grower, I enjoy the customers. The Crystal Lake customers are well educated on what they want and how they want it grown. There’s great camaraderie,” Rekenthaler said.

Rekenthaler is known for her heirloom tomatoes, garlic and five different kinds of potatoes. She has participated in the Crystal Lake Farmers Market since 1999—this being her twelfth season.

Dawn Gerth, owner of in Downtown Crystal Lake, will be selling her bread and baked goods at the farmers market again this year. “There’s a great community spirit there,” Gerth said.

When asked if she thought that the farmers market helped local businesses, Gerth responded with an enthusiastic "yes."

“There are always a lot more people all over downtown [on market days],” she said.

While the market opens in June, things pick up as more produce comes into season. “It gets really fun in July,” Kenney said.