ENCINITAS — Six weeks ago, the Mira Costa College San Elijo Campus parking lot was just that, a parking lot.
But a local business organization’s dream of creating a family-friendly farmers market in Cardiff became a reality, and the once quiet lot quickly became a weekend hot spot for area locals.
“If there’s one thing Cardiff has been missing until now, it’s a local destination farmers’ market that highlights and showcases our local region’s best produce, meats, artisan foods, and maker,” said Alison Wielechowski, executive director of Cardiff 101. “It’s a perfect and convenient weekend destination for community, food, and fun, and an awesome addition to the best that Cardiff-by-the-Sea offers.”
Wielechowski started plotting the journey for the market back in 2020. And then the pandemic hit, and it seemed like a farmers market may never happen for the local business organization.
“My first conversation about the market started in January of 2020 with Mira Costa College representatives just to see if we could have it here,” Wielechowski said. “COVID-19 put a damper on that for a little while. I started opening the conversation again in 2021 when they had some construction on campus. In 2022, the construction was planned to be done, and students would be back on campus, so we tried to shoot for fall of 2022.”
Leases and contracts had to be drawn up between Cardiff 101, Mira Costa College, the City of Encinitas, and the County of San Diego, which put the market on a bit of a halt for a few months.
When everything was finally signed and completed, it was time to have their long-awaited opening.
“It was actually really amazing. We had set up a grand opening tent, and then we had our farmers market bags we were giving away, and we ended up running out after we offered 150 free bags. We had people lined up for a majority of the first day.”
Since it opened, the market has had around 80 vendors ranging from fruits, vegetables, and meats to hand-crafted baskets, candles, and clothing. Considering it was between seasons for growing, some farmers had limited offerings but still showed up.
Confirmed vendors include Mooski Snacks, Wonderland Farm, MP Family Farm, Rodney Kawano Farm, Sea Greens Microgreens, Crescent Meat, Fishbone Fish, Cardiff Tiny Farm, Emmy Lou Jewelry, Sinfully Sweet by Stacia, and many more.
“It was the end of the winter growing season and the beginning of the spring growing season,” Wielechowski said. “The tomato guy had nothing to sell; his tomatoes weren’t ready yet. It’s just hard, and we can’t necessarily guarantee the produce. But now, with spring coming, we are starting to see more varieties.”
The Cardiff Farmers Market strives to have local vendors attending every Saturday from 10 am to 2 pm, including musicians that perform during the event.
“We try to have local music once a week; we love having music,” Wielechowski said. “Next week, The Encinitas School of Music will come and play during the day. We also have the Violin Shop that comes and plays once a month.”
The market is currently working on getting approval to accept EBT payments and is fully ADA-compliant.
“Another request that Mira Costa College had was that we would be an EBT/SNAP provider, which means that we would accept food stamps if people brought them here to use at the market. We have just been approved through the federal government, and now I’m waiting for The State of California to issue us the machine.”
The Cardiff 101 Mainstreet Association hosts the weekly farmers market every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Mira Costa College San Elijo Campus, 3333 Manchester Ave., Cardiff, CA, 92007. The Cardiff Farmers Market is a Certified California Farmers Market.
