The much-anticipated Indoor Winter Market is making its seasonal return, bringing community warmth to the chilly weather. Set to open Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Benton County Fairgrounds, the market will continue to offer a diverse array of produce, artisanal foods, and handcrafted goods from the hands of local Corvallis farms and businesses.
According to Lynne Miller – a woman of many hats who is operating as the president of the markets advisory board and the market manager, and is a local farmer herself – this year’s market will feature a familiar lineup of trusted vendors.
“Most of our vendors are the same people you’ve been buying local food from for years,” Miller explained. Different from the traditional Farmers’ Market seen in Corvallis during the warmer seasons, the variety of products is the highlight of the indoor market.
While the downtown market is exclusively for farmers and food producers, the winter season leaves room for a mix of craft vendors, offering items like beaded jewelry, carved beeswax candles, and CBD products within the fairgrounds’ spacious Gueber Hall.
“I enjoy the personal connection with customers that I don’t get from wholesale,” shared returning vendor Ethan Bennett of Honeytree Apiaries, who has been a part of the market since its inception.
The winter season presents unique challenges like cold weather and fewer customers for vendors such as Bennett. However, he sees the Corvallis community and its support as the thing that keeps him coming back each year. Bennett also collaborates with other vendors, providing his famous honey for their products and reinforcing the market’s cooperative spirit.
Walking down the pathway towards the craft vendors, you’ll see a seasonal array of cold-weather crops, including squash, potatoes, and cabbage. As a farmer herself, Miller admires the plethora of farmers participating in the market who have indoor high tunnel greenhouses, “allowing greens to flourish off and on throughout winter.”
Shoppers can also find baked goods from local favorites such as Bodhi Bakery and Wild Yeast, as well as dairy products from the OSU Creamery truck. With 59 vendors in total, Bennett encourages people to get out there to get their groceries local. Inclusive options like the SNAP benefit token system, and the majority of vendors accepting alternative payment options such as Venmo and Card make this kind of community support easy through customer convenience.
The Indoor Winter Market runs every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through April 12, leading right into the summer season where you’ll find vendors back downtown. Miller advises the community to prioritize coming early for high-demand products like milk and eggs!
