Woodstock, other McHenry County farmers markets set to open in coming weeks

Elk meat and exotic mushrooms are some of the newer items set to be offered by local vendors at the Woodstock Farmers Market, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.

The Woodstock Farmers Market, which opens April 23, kicks off the season of spring and summer farmers markets that open up around McHenry County.

That will be followed by the Pearl Street Market in McHenry on May 19; the Huntley Outdoor Farmers Market on May 28; the Dole Farmers Market+ in Crystal Lake, which moves back outdoors on May 29; the Cary Farmers Market on June 5; and the downtown Crystal Lake Farmers Market on June 18.

Market season means more mushrooms at River Valley Ranch, a Wisconsin-based grower that sells at several McHenry County farmers markets, including Woodstock and the Dole Farmers Market+ in Crystal Lake.

“We’re growing quite a few more mushrooms,” said Cheri Petkus, assistant manager at River Valley Ranch. “But most of us look forward to it. The markets are always fun, especially for certain employees who work on the farm most of the week and then they get to go out and talk to people.”

On average, the ranch hand-harvests between 15,000 and 18,000 white, cremini and portobello mushrooms a week, according to the ranch.

The cremini variety is the most popular seller, Petkus said, although they have been experiment with some more “exotic” varieties, which Petkus said are becoming more popular because of their medicinal purposes.

Another mushroom grower, Bloom Shroomers, will be selling in McHenry County for the first time this year, after Pat and Lisa Connolly and his wife, Lisa, moved to Crystal Lake from Peoria.

“We find a lot of people who are really into mushrooms,” Pat Connolly said. “We share techniques, bounce ideas off of other growers. It ends up being this little community of growers and buyers who are super interested in mushrooms.”

Connolly said the variety of sizes and texture of mushrooms are always surprising to him and a big part of why he thinks they’re popular. Connolly switched from teaching music to growing oyster mushrooms, which feed off of wood, during the pandemic.

Because of the agriculture in the region, McHenry County farmers markets are able to take advantage of showcasing local, independent or family-owned farming operations, said Woodstock’s farmers market manager, Keith Johnson.

At least 60% of the Woodstock Farmers Market vendors are run by farmers, and with more than 50 vendors, the market will have more farmers selling this year than ever before, Johnson said.

Despite a two-year drought in McHenry County, most of the farmers weren’t impacted, Johnson said.

“We’re not in terrible shape,” Johnson said. “We need more rains. Some of our vendors have been lucky or gotten just enough to get by. We had enough water to get started this year.”

Johnson himself is a grower of root crops and garlic, and has sold for more than 30 years in Woodstock.

In his 20 years as manager, Johnson said he helped oversee the farmers market’s expansion from a small roving market in front of Woodstock storefronts to a regionally recognized market that takes up the whole of the historic Woodstock Square.

While some farmers markets in McHenry County open for a few months in the summer, the Woodstock, Huntley, Dole and Cary farmers markets are among those that operate all year, switching from winter to summer wares.

“This anniversary is a culmination of what we’ve been working on,” Johnson said. “It used to be, you’d pull up to a farmers market to buy fresh vegetables like sweet corn and tomatoes, but now with greenhouses, aquaponics, canned products, stuff like honey, it has really developed into a year-round business for a lot of people.”

The elk meat and antlers available this year at Woodstock’s market will come courtesy of Hufendick Farm in Plainfield. Other new vendors include Bloom Shroomery and Fox Valley Garlic.

This is the time of year vendors begin to line up or reclaim spaces at the local markets, according to Lynn Reckamp, the new director of Downtown Crystal Lake, which runs the Crystal Lake Farmers Market in Depot Park.

One reason why many local farmers markets are expanding in recent years is that between the pandemic and rising food costs, farmers markets have become a healthier and more convenient way for people get groceries and staples like milk and eggs, said Mary Schepp, marketing manager for the Cary Winter Farmers Market.

More than 800 registered farms are in McHenry County, Schepp said. A Facebook group she created during the pandemic, Fresh From the Farm in McHenry County, grew to more than 5,000 people within a few days.

The farmers markets and agricultural businesses have been a great way for residents to learn just how important a role the industry plays within McHenry County, Schepp said.

“Our farmers are nice, down-to-earth people,” Reckamp said. “And these direct farmer-to-consumer markets bring a healthy eating and lifestyle to our community.”