International Day

Most Sundays, the market just quietly does its thing. This one has a name.

Sunday, August 16 is International Day at Market in the Valley. Linda Loomis, who runs the market, put it well: it is an opportunity to celebrate the diverse nationalities that make up our community, our vendors and our local residents alike.

Here is the thing about that. It isn't really a one-day fact. Walk the aisles on any ordinary Sunday and you'll hear a few different languages before you reach the end of the first row. You'll find produce grown by families who farmed somewhere else first, and food from kitchens with a lot of different histories behind them. International Day doesn't import any of that for the occasion. It just points at what is already here and says it out loud.

The weather is cooperating, too - mostly sunny, topping out near 81, with a light northwest breeze. About as good as an August Sunday gets.

Straight From Nearby Fields

This is the best stretch of the whole season. Melons are in. So are tomatoes and peppers, and they're the real thing, not the pale February kind. Beck's, Svihel's, Lor Produce, Yang's Fresh Flowers and Vegetables, Bao Yang, 2JCK Produce, and The Farm of Minnesota will have those alongside crisp greens, beans, and whatever else came out of the field this week.

Mark Freiderichs Gladiolas is back with armloads of cut gladiolas. He has been with us a couple of weeks now and expects to be here through the end of August, so if you have been meaning to grab a bunch, the window is real but it isn't forever.

Bakers, Roasters & Specialty Makers

The bread aisle does a lot of work on a morning like this. Cafe Verte, BAKE! Gluten Free Goodies, Great Harvest Bread Company, The Nelson Loaf, and Cornerstone Wellness have that covered, and there is a new name joining them this week: Decadent Desserts, here for the first time.

For the pantry, Caribbean Heat brings the island heat, Yummytizers and Lake of Fire Foods bring the flavor, Summer Lakes Beverages handles something cold, and TNT Coffee Lab pours a proper cup.

The Pantry Shelf

Local staples that keep: golden jars from Bee Sweet Honey, pickles and preserves from Schyma's, a wedge or two from the Wisconsin Cheese Outlet, and pasture-raised meat from Early Boots Farm and the Veteran's Farming Initiative.

Handmade & Homegrown

Give yourself time to browse. Formal Ghost, Miz Mollys Closet, Trinamimi Pottery, Extraordinary Ltd., Your Crafts & Collectibles, Wonder Paper Art, Tropical Island Seashells, ABC by Karla, and Hand Heart Beads bring the handmade goods. Sarahgirl Soap has the self-care shelf, SOAR Stretch Therapy will help you undo whatever you did to your back this week, and Wild Iron Cooking has the kitchen covered - including refurbished cast iron, which is a great thing to buy from someone who can tell you how to care for it.

Hungry Now? Ready to Eat

Come with an appetite, and consider eating your way sideways across the map. Crepe & Cake, JM Bistro, Atacama Catering, Midlife Coffee, and Lziza Mediterranean will keep you fed from open to close.

At the Music Tent

Special International Day programming runs from 9:00 to 11:00 at the music tent.

Meet Our Community Partners

Say hello to the neighbors who make this a community and not just a marketplace: PRISM, the University of Minnesota Extension Master Gardeners, the Golden Valley Community Foundation, Treble Tones, the City of Golden Valley, and Renewal by Andersen.

Start Your Sunday Right

Roll out your mat for a free yoga session with Hand Heart Yoga at 9:30 am, then let the morning carry itself.

See who is here this week on our This Week's Vendors page, and we'll see you Sunday, August 16, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm at 7800 Golden Valley Road - under the Water Tower. Bring a neighbor.