Tony and Barb Spina sell homemade candles and soap at the Pine Ridge market.
Photos by Lance Shearer

There are few bigger attractions on Marco Island than the farmers’ market. Every Wednesday during season, dozens of vendors attract hundreds or thousands of customers to browse a wide range of offerings. But after April, the Marco market shuts down for the summer and leaves the locals market-less, right?

Not necessarily. There are still farmers’ markets to supply your fresh produce, local honey, tasty treats, and much more – you just have to go across the Jolley Bridge to reach them. Markets from Third Street South in Naples to Golden Gate, Pine Ridge Rd., and beyond operate year ’round, and each has its distinctive atmosphere.

The Third St. South market which operates every Saturday morning in Naples’ original downtown area. While during the winter months the market shuts down Third Street itself and takes over the street, during the offseason, the action is moved to the parking lot just behind the shops on the west side of the street, between 12th and 14th Avenues South.

As befits this tony and upscale area, the vibe is brunchy and healthy, with many ready-to-eat foods on offer, making this a great chance to combine a road trip and a leisurely al fresco breakfast. Mondragon Farms does sell traditional farmers’ market produce, fruits and vegetables, including rainbow-hued carrots, but they are outnumbered by vendors selling food that may or may not make it home with you.

The Hippie Squeeze has fresh-squeezed lemonade, Gulf Coast Microgreens offers herbs hand-cut on the spot for your smoothie, and Mama Brooks sells a wide array of hot sauces. Additional stalls have New Jersey “cawfee cake,” kombucha, chicken salad, barbecue, and pierogies.

Also, on Saturday morning, the Golden Gate farmers’ market at the community center on Golden Parkway is worlds apart in atmosphere. Here, food offerings tend toward Latin American comfort food. Mexican, Cuban, and other cuisines are represented, and these are authentic dishes being prepared by natives of the countries and, to a large extent, being consumed by expatriates as well – people coming to the “Mercado” to get a taste of home.

Empanadas Venezolanas offers carne molida, pollo, queso blanco, salchichas, chuleta, carne mechada, maduro con queso and more, and their competition sells Mexican churros, papusas that could be from El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua or Guatemala, churros and fresh-cut coconuts.

When it comes to the non-food offerings – and they are plentiful – the Golden Gate location has more of a flea market vibe. Tools, clothing items, jewelry, household appliances, perfumes and beauty items are just a few of the blizzard of items to delight a bargain hunter’s heart. Oscar Molina of La Chopina de Naples said that his capacious canopied selling space requires three hours to set up every morning before the shoppers arrive.

The Pine Ridge market, held on Sunday morning at the corner of Livingston and Pine Ridge Rd., is more in line with the Third Street model. There are clothing items – one stall that has a sign out front saying “Nothing haunts like the outfits we didn’t buy” also promises air-conditioned changing rooms to try on your purchase. They mean it, too – behind their stall sits a Mercedes Sprinter van with curtained, cordoned-off spaces inside. A shell vendor has a sign promising, “your husband called and said, ‘Buy anything you want.’”

Food offerings include Mia’s Truffles, along with extra virgin olive oils imported directly from family groves in Albania, elegant ciabatta and babaganoush from European Gourmet Bakery, plus a familiar sight to Marco Island farmer’s market goers, Naples Honey with their locally produced honey. Barb and Tony Spina sell homemade candles and soap at their Apple Cider Farms booth.
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One surprising exhibitor was the School of Rock, promoting an incipient music training venue that is set to open their academy teaching electric guitar, drumming, and all things rock band this summer. Additional booths offer grout cleaning and chiropractic care if you threw your back out trying to clean your own grout.

The Golden Gate market has a virtual repeat performance on Sunday mornings, located this time on Collier Blvd. just north of Golden Gate Parkway, near the parking lot of Sunshine Ace Hardware. Once again, Latin American foods are featured. Gina’s Emporium does a brisk business selling carne asada, caldos, tamales, burritos, quesadillas, empanadas, tortas, tostadas, street corn, soups, and more, all offered with a smile and a welcoming attitude, no matter what language you speak.

Along with a selection of fruit trees and large plants, a vendor calling himself El Lobo, or “Wolfman,” has roosters and chickens for sale, as well as their eggs.

The Vanderbilt farmer’s market, operating on Saturday but closed for the first two weeks of June, is well spoken of. A number of local markets follow Marco Island’s lead and close for the summer months, including the South Collier Market at FSW on Grand Lely Drive and the St. John Farmer’s Market on Park Shore Drive in Naples.

Then there is the granddaddy of them all, the Immokalee State Farmers Market, where many of the produce vendors who sell at nearby markets acquire their stock. Located at 424 New Market Rd. East in Immokalee, this massive operation is open seven days a week, 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and contains separate retail and wholesale components. For a newbie, it can be a little intimidating, but gives a closer look at just how that food gets from “farm to table” and helps explain the bumper sticker seen on one farmer’s truck at the Third St. market: “Farming Ain’t for Sissies!”