Farmers markets return to Woodstock, Phoenicia, Saugerties and Windham this month, each with its own character, and most on a different day of the week.

The Woodstock Farm Festival market opened May 13 and will run every Wednesday from 3 to 7 p.m. through Oct. 14 at the Mountain View Parking Lot in Woodstock.

The Phoenicia Farmers Market opens May 17 at Parish Field, off Main Street in Phoenicia, and will run every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. until the fall and winter months, when the market moves indoors.

The Saugerties Farmers Market opens May 23 and will run every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through Oct. 31 at 115 Main St. in Saugerties.

The Windham Farmers Market opened May 9 and will run every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine, through Oct. 31 at the Gem Mercantile Retail Store, 5399 Main St. in Windham.

The Woodstock market leans organic and counterculture, with gluten-free choices, vegan ice cream, and a NeuroFascial Reset Massage Therapy booth. Phoenicia’s year-round market offers consistency to vendors and customers, with a summer location beside a playground and hiking trail. In Saugerties, a Kids Art Corner lets parents shop while their children make collages and other art projects.

“Our farmers regularly bring heirloom and specialty produce you won’t typically find in grocery stores, grown for flavor rather than shelf life,” said Kelly Mullins, market manager for the Woodstock Farm Festival Market.

Sophie Grant said specialties at the Phoenicia Farmers Market include pawpaws, ginseng, medicinal herbs, wild foraged mushrooms, and micro- and baby varieties of spinach, chard, and mustard greens. The Saugerties Farmers Market has “a huge variety of mushrooms,” said market manager John Bassler, as well as pawpaws, currants, hardy kiwis, and cocozelle zucchini.

More familiar fruits and vegetables, grown locally and harvested fresh, are also featured at all three markets.

“Picked that morning, very early,” Bassler said.

Grant said salad mixes sprinkled with brightly colored edible flowers are among the items that “keep people coming back each week” to the Phoenicia market. Berries, asparagus, tomatoes, eggplant, potatoes, and onions are other customer favorites. Mullins said Woodstock customers especially like “early-season greens and strawberries, followed by tomatoes, corn, peaches, and fresh herbs at their peak.”

Woodstock, Phoenicia and Saugerties will each have 20 or more vendors this year, offering meats, seafood, baked goods, and farm produce. The smaller but well supplied Windham market offers vegetables, bread, pastries, meat, cheese, flowers, soap, botanicals, honey, maple syrup, granola, and pickles.

Phoenicia and Saugerties will have wine and spirits from several vendors, while Woodstock will have hard cider from Left Bank Ciders in Catskill.

Gardeners will find plants at most markets. Cedar Ridge Nursery will have a booth at the Saugerties market, Barkaboom Native Plants will be at Phoenicia, and Clove Valley Community Farm will sell seedlings at Woodstock alongside its flowers and vegetables.

Prepared food will also be available, though not every vendor will operate every market day. In Woodstock, customers can find Ecuadorian, Puerto Rican, Caribbean, Cuban, Mediterranean, and Middle Eastern food, as well as vegan and gluten-free hot dogs. Saugerties will have tamales, street corn, cauliflower wings, empanadas, and sliders. Phoenicia will have Caribbean food, tamales, and both vegan and meat options.

Handcrafted goods will also be sold, including tea towels in Saugerties and Woodstock, soaps in Windham, Phoenicia and Saugerties, cutting boards and artisan crafts in Windham, and wooden utensils in Saugerties.

Many, though not all, vendors accept credit cards. At the Saugerties market, customers can use credit cards to buy market bucks, which are accepted by all vendors. For people experiencing food insecurity, Woodstock provides free WFF bucks at the market information booth, with no application required. They can be used for any products except clothing, alcohol, and crafts. At the Phoenicia market, customers with EBT benefits can stop by the market table for SNAP tokens and a dollar-for-dollar matching coupon program.

Local musicians perform live at each market. Dogs are welcome, but they must be leashed and well behaved.

Parking is limited at the Phoenicia market, where spaces near the entrance are reserved for customers with limited mobility. Other customers can park nearby around the corner. The Saugerties market has room for 14 to 28 cars, depending on the size of the market that day; overflow parking is available on side streets or at the nearby Our Lady of the Snow church. In Woodstock, Mullins said, there is “ample parking right in the Mountain View Lot,” with an entrance on Rock City Road across from Colony.

Margaret Tomlinson is a contributing writer. You can send her an email at reporting@theoverlooknews.com.