Farmers' market opens for business today

Library Park will be filled with the sound of shoppers and produce vendors today.

The 2012 Glenn County Certified farmers' market kicks off with plenty of familiar faces and some new, according to Manager Lisa Tietz.

Late season winter produce will be featured this weekend, including lettuce, spinach, broccoli and herbs, she said.

The market opens at 9 a.m. and runs to 12:30 p.m. in the park at Fourth and Mill streets.

Tietz said opening ceremonies with local City Council members and other officials are planned around 10 a.m.

Other items at the market will include cheeses, eggs, honey, grass fed beef from Divide Ranch near Willows and more.

Guzzetti's Catering of Chico intends to sell Indian breads and spices, Tietz said, and crafters also are coming.

Jewelry, bird houses, benches, artwork, photography and more will be available from vendors, too.

Also coming to the Orland Farmers Markets will be artists doing paintings and sketches of the activities in the "Plein Air" or on-site style.

Some of their work will be displayed in the Orland Art Gallery next year during the June show to honor the market.

Next Wednesday, the Willows Farmers' Market debuts from 4-7 p.m.

It returns to downtown at the intersection of North Butte and Sycamore streets.

Willows photographer Lindsey Neuhardt returns with her photos and Molly Albright with Plants by Mel is to sell items from her nursery near Elk Creek, Tietz said.

Later in the season, producers will sell fruits, vegetables, gourds and a variety of goods.

The markets have been extended this year through October as vendors lobbied for more time.

This is Tietz's first year running the markets.

She replaces Claudia Street, who began the markets two years ago while working for the Glenn County Resource Conservation District under a USDA grant program.

Street left for a position in Lake County this spring, and Tietz was hired from Orland to work with both markets.

For more information, call 934-4601, Ext. 5.