Sweltering afternoon and early evening temperatures this summer have not stopped dozens of entrepreneurs from testing the sales waters at Taylorsville City’s newest seasonal outdoor activity: a weekly farmers market.

“Residents have been telling us for a long time now, through surveys, they would like to have a farmers market in the community,” City Executive Assistant to the Mayor Jen Andrus said. “We’ve been investigating options for some time and are pleased to be getting it going this year.” 

Andrus is also the coordinator of the city’s very successful “Starry Nights @ the Plaza” activity. Now in the midst of its third summer season, Starry Nights began on Saturday nights at Centennial Plaza, outside Taylorsville City Hall. Last year, and again this summer, it’s being held on Friday evenings. Starry Nights features food trucks, live music, frequent outdoor movies and a variety of other special activities.

But with that event proving to be a success, Andrus says city officials next wanted to establish a recurring activity that would encourage residents to make use of Centennial Plaza on another night.

“Centennial Plaza is such a great, inviting setting,” she added. “We just want to get as much use out of it as possible.”

That’s when Herriman resident Denise Christiansen entered the picture. She’s been operating farmers markets along the Wasatch Front for four years now, through her business Good4Life Markets (good4lifemarkets.com).

“When COVID hit in 2020, my husband was laid off from his job selling dental equipment,” Christiansen explained. “Dentist offices were closed – so he was out of work. We brainstormed ways to make money and first came up with a business selling succulent plants on Facebook. Now that’s evolved into operating farmers markets.”

Good4Life currently operates two farmers markets on Monday nights and one on Thursdays. The Tuesday night Taylorsville Farmers Market is the fourth Christiansen coordinates.

“Taylorsville City reached out to me back in January to discuss creating a new market at Centennial Plaza,” she added. “No money exchanges hands. The city provides the space and most of the cleanup after each market. My business provides the vendors, food trucks and live music. I also carry insurance; and the city shares with me in advertising the markets.”

Christiansen works with as many as 900 vendors and plans to have at least 40 to 50 of them at each Taylorsville event. As the summer season continues, more fruits and vegetables will become available. Since it is still a bit early in the season now, the Tuesday night markets have, so far, featured more handmade crafts than food.

One newcomer to the farmers market circuit is Taylorsville resident Sandra Elliott, whose home is directly north of (and shares a fence with) city hall. She and her husband Jay were at the inaugural Taylorsville Farmers Market on July 9, selling items through their fledgling business Cherished Handmade Treasures (cherishedhandmadetreasures.com).

“We sell pet accessories, including bandanas and hairbows I sew myself, and dog sweaters I crochet by hand,” Elliott said. “We also have pet T-shirts and toys. We have four pet dogs of our own that I make bandanas for. We created our business website last November, and now I’m starting to do more farmers markets. I’m excited our city is establishing one here.”

Mayor Kristie Overson is confident the Taylorsville Farmers Market will grow in popularity as word of mouth about it gets out.

“I am really excited about it,” she said. “Part of the vision of Centennial Plaza was to do more things on it. I believe this will be a relatively easy event for us to operate. Giving people a reason to visit Centennial Plaza two nights a week (through the summer) is wonderful.”

At a recent city council meeting, Overson reported buying “cherries, beans, beets and tomatoes at the farmers market.”

The new Taylorsville Farmers Market is scheduled to run from 5 to 9 p.m. on Tuesday evenings in Centennial Plaza through Sept. 24. λ