Dane County Farmer’s Market

Madison Wisconsin’s Dane County hosts a large farmer’s market every summer. Vendors set up on the edge of the tree-lined sidewalks along the circumference of the Wisconsin’s State Capitol building, known as “the Square.” Its wide sidewalks accommodate the many shoppers that support this great farmer’s market.

Online descriptions of the market: “All of the items for sale are grown, raised, and produced in Wisconsin by the person behind the stand.”, and “As a producer-only farmers’ market, our vendors are limited by their production and harvest yields. This means that they may sell out before the (posted time) close of Market.”

The capital building is a beautiful setting for this market. In 2021, the market opened on June 17^th and runs through November 13th. My friend from Indiana and I met for a couple of days in Madison, and we happened to be there on a Saturday, so we took advantage of exploring this bountiful market.

On our first walk around, we decided just look and consider all that was for sale: local honey, yummy looking baked goods, fresh harvested vegetables, beautiful flowers and flower bouquets, many flavors of jams and jellies and a wide variety of cheeses. We thought on our second time around we would purchase what we had decided to buy.

One special treat we had decided on was a savory danish, but much to our dismay and surprise, when we got back to the stand, she had sold out all the savory treats. Lesson learned. However, we did buy other bakery items and some fresh carrots, including purple carrots. In place of the savory danish, we bought a cashew croissant.

The most unique item we bought was homemade graham crackers. I have never seen homemade graham crackers before, and was intrigued.  It reminded me of homemade marshmallows I made years ago, after a friend gave me her homemade marshmallows along with a gift of hot chocolate mix. Another friend and I decided to try making marshmallows and they turned out well. But, I’m not so sure about making graham crackers. They seem to need extra special care. If I lived in the Madison area I would go back and buy more homemade graham crackers. They were delicious.

We wanted to sit outside on the capitol steps with coffee and watch all the shoppers and browsers pass by, but the three coffee shops near the Square had extra-long lines so we decided to take our tasty treats and find coffee nearby Lake Monona. We found a comfortable spot outside to enjoy our coffee and treats with a beautiful view of the Madison skyline along the water’s edge on this glorious fall, but summer-like, day. It was a great way to end our time together, our mini get-away, before each driving our separate ways back home: me to Minnesota and she to Indiana.