Virtual French Market -- Walking Tour

Harvest time is the most exciting time of the year in the Farmer's Market. That's when many of the farmers from southeastern Louisiana come into the French Market to sell their produce and other goods. This section of the French Market was constructed in 1924 to encourage local farmers to bring their produce into the city. New Orleans had grown so much by that time that the vendors in the Vegetable Market building just couldn't keep up with that growth, so it was time to expand. The expansion became the "produce terminal" stalls in the block from Ursulines St. to Barracks St. The original stalls of the Farmer's Market received a complete make-over in the PWA renovations of the 1930s, and the current structure dates from that time.

The idea behind the Farmer's Market is simple: the city provides a location and the farmers back their trucks right up to the walkway in the middle. They then sell their goods right from the back of the truck. The farmer pays the city rent on the space, the customer gets the freshest produce around, and everyone is happy. Given the Creole cook's desire to get the freshest ingredients possible for dinner, the Farmer's Market was a welcome addition. The Farmer's Market was a 24-hour operation; the farmers would travel in at night, arriving in the wee hours of the morning to get the choice stalls. This all-night bustle of activity encouraged development of other businesses in the Market, such as the Morning Call coffee stand.

Physically, there's not much different about the structure of the Farmer's Market. The section of stalls from Gov. Nicholls to Barracks is now the Flea Market, but the closer-in section of stalls is still a great place to get fresh strawberries in the spring, watermelon in the summer, and all kinds of local produce in the fall. The only downside to the market is that some of the stalls closer to Ursulines St. are being taken over by permanent little stores that sell more culinary souvenirs and such than they do fresh produce. One section of stalls on that end of the building has even given way to a little enclosed store that sells and ships fresh seafood all over the world. So, in a sense, the Farmer's Market has come full circle, from the original Vegetable Market that catered to the Creole cooks of the Vieux Carre, to the "produce terminal" of the pre-supermarket days, back to a local, open-air market that caters to neighborhood locals as well as visitors.

One of the most fun things we do in the French Market has been to take the kids down there in October to buy a pumpkin. We'll get a nice-sized one to put by the front door on Halloween, then we'd also pick one up one of those little orange squashes that look sort of like a mini-pumpkin for Justin (now age 7) to decorate. We have continued doing this since Justin was 4, and his pre-school made the journey as a class field trip. There are few things more enjoyable than experiencing the magic of the French Market through the eyes of a child, especially when they know they get to buy something and bring it home.