Shopping Around Downtown Las Cruces
Shoppin’ Around
We parked at the south end of the Downtown Mall last Saturday and walked up and down Main Street, checking out our local Farmer’s Market. It’s ranked best in New Mexico, and eighth in the nation – here’s why: I’m a longtime Market fan, mostly for fresh produce, but yesterday, with my out-of-town visitor, I saw the whole picture. I wasn’t on a produce buying mission, I was on a Saturday morning outing, one anybody would enjoy.
The food (we had oven-fired pizza) was good. The street musicians were diverse and enjoyable. The temperature was perfect, sunny and cool, and the dogs were leashed and well behaved. The wide variety of handmade craft items was impressive, and the spirit of the day was festive, with friendly conversation, great aromas filling the air, and edible herb planters sprinkled through the streets adding their own charm.
Best for me, this visit, was discovering Jacob Carpenter and his fanciful bottlecap creatures. I fell in love with a blue bird, and my house guest ended up buying it for me! . . . . so now there are two birds flying under the roof of the Quesenberry Farmhouse (my home/studio/gallery). I’m hoping in the future to show Jacob’s sculptures here – I have his number – will let you know if/when we set something up.
So, I love the Farmer’s Market more than ever. As a savvy shopper, I’m also a fan our small grocery stores, which carry a wealth of local foods and produce. My favorites include Save Mart, Lowe’s Fiesta, Toucan Market and the newest venue for organic produce in town, Natural Grocer’s. Special thanks to Toucan Market for continuing to make perfectly edible “day-old” produce available to its customers. We all need to eat! These stores make it more affordable, more interesting, and very neighbor-friendly, which helps preserve the small town feel of our expanding Las Cruces.
C 2016 Bonnie Mandoe
