The Boise Farmers Market Is Done Moving

"Permanence was always the goal," Boise Farmers Market executive director Amber Beierle told Capital Press in September, describing the market's move to the Idaho Botanical Garden. Most of the coverage has treated the move as downtown losing its market. The market's own history tells it differently. The Boise Farmers Market has been changing locations for more than a decade. Nov. 7 is the first move with no plan for a next one.

Thirteen Years of Temporary Addresses

The market says it has "moved, or adapted significantly, four times in thirteen years." Its winter market has had at least six locations in as many years. Since 2019, the April through October season has run on ground at 15th Street and Shoreline Drive. That land was leased one year at a time. In winter the market set up wherever it could find space.

The market says each move cost it money. Each one also wore out shoppers, vendors and staff, who had to keep track of the changes. If you've ever pulled up to an old winter location and found it empty, that's the pattern this move is meant to end.

Why Downtown Couldn't Hold It

The search started well before this year. The market's board began looking for a site to buy or lease long term in 2017. It describes the options as "limited, cost prohibitive," and concluded that open space with plenty of parking and working infrastructure "is simply non-existent in Boise."

Beierle told Boise Weekly the market knew locals wanted it downtown. The problem was the terms. "We're a nonprofit, and people couldn't guarantee things without a really high rent, or us purchasing things that we just simply couldn't purchase because that was out of our reach."

The Garden's offer started during the Covid-19 pandemic. Erin Anderson, the Garden's executive director, first suggested that the market move in as the Garden planned its expansion. The market's board tried to stay where it was, even through 2024, before committing to the move. Board president Tim Sommer, who runs Purple Sage Farms, called it "a phenomenal offer."

The Garden Was Built With the Market in Mind

The market's new neighbor is also new. In late August, the Idaho Botanical Garden opened the first phase of an $8 million expansion that grows the Garden from 15 to 25 acres. The Garden announced Aug. 29 as the public opening date for the first completed spaces: the Parking Garden, the Borbonus Family Educational Arboretum and the Event Lawn. A bike garden sits next to the new parking area at the entrance.

The Parking Garden is what makes the move work for the market. The market's FAQ counts more than 800 designated parking spots across the Old Penitentiary Historic District. That includes 144 spots in the renovated Parking Garden, between 5 and 20 yards from the vendors. More parking at the State of Idaho buildings sits 25 to 100 yards away. For comparison, the market says Shoreline Drive generally sees 300 to 500 cars per hour on a market Saturday. Downtown never had space for that many cars.

The site sits on the east side of Penitentiary Road, north of Warm Springs Avenue. That's the same corridor where the Trolley House is being revived, which we wrote about in The Trolley House Waited Four Years for One Phone Call. The Garden says to arrive on Old Penitentiary Road and follow the signs. The Parking Garden entrance is on the right.

What the First Winter Will Look Like

The winter market runs Saturdays from Nov. 7 through Dec. 19. The setup is simple for a permanent home. Beierle described a heated tent with room for 40 to 60 vendors, plus outdoor space for 10 to 20 more. The upgrades are the kind shoppers won't see. The new site has electricity and on-site storage, so vendors will need fewer generators.

A permanent market building is still only a possibility. Beierle said one "could be constructed eventually" in partnership with the Garden. This winter, the market will be in the tent.

The market's posted 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. schedule applies to the April through October season, so winter hours could be different. The market says this year's winter market will have the same local vendors shoppers already know. Check the market's site for hours and vendors the week of Nov. 7 before you go.

Saturday Mornings, Split Across Town

Until then, the market stays where it is. Its season runs Saturdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., April through October, rain or shine, at 1500 Shoreline Drive. That makes Oct. 31 the last Saturday on Shoreline. The market posts each week's vendor list and map on Thursdays. Its parking directions still account for construction at Americana Boulevard and Shoreline Drive.

Downtown will still have a Saturday market after the move. The Capital City Public Market keeps running at Grove Plaza, 827 W. Main St. Its homepage lists a season of April 11 through Dec. 19, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. An April CBS2 report gave its hours as 9:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., so check the current hours before you plan around them.

The move does change how far some shoppers travel. Wilder Jones, a vendor and market board member, told Capital Press the new site will be farther for people coming from the west. He called that an adjustment, though one the market has expected for some time. From November on, a Saturday that includes both markets means a drive between Grove Plaza and the Penitentiary Road district.

Here is how the next few weeks line up on the Garden's side of town:

1. Thursdays in October, 4 to 7 p.m.: Flower Power Happy Hour at the Idaho Botanical Garden.
2. Oct. 1 through Nov. 2: The Garden's Scarecrow Stroll.
3. Oct. 31: The last Saturday of the market's April–October season at Shoreline Drive.
4. Nov. 7: The Boise Farmers Market opens at the Garden for the winter market.
5. Dec. 19: Last winter market Saturday at the Garden. This is also the last listed day of Capital City Public Market's season at Grove Plaza.

The Scarecrow Stroll closes five days before the market arrives. The Garden's event calendar will be quiet that first week in November.

What a Permanent Address Allows

Market leaders say the point of staying put is to build things that only make sense in a place you keep. Beierle told Boise Weekly the new home "opens up the door for us to have more education, to have a food hub where that low mileage food can be stored and maybe minimally processed." That food could then reach partners like City of Good, which delivers to food pantries. The market already runs its Boise Mobile Market with City of Good. Beierle also said the market may expand its free delivery program within Boise city limits during the April–October season.

Beierle said the market itself will stay the same. "What we do is create a community every Saturday," she said. "We create a space where people can come and know that there's farmers they can trust and food they can trace." She told Capital Press the market expects to stay put even with nearby construction. "This is where we are taking up roots, and no matter what happens with construction, we will be in this district."

The winter market opens at the Idaho Botanical Garden, 2355 Old Penitentiary Road, on Saturday, Nov. 7.

When a community anchor like this gets a permanent home, it often changes how people spend their weekends nearby. That's the kind of detail Elizabeth Hume pays attention to when she talks with clients about Boise's east side. If you'd like to talk through what changes like this mean for your corner of Boise, Let's Connect.