Thomas K.
Yelp
Love this place! Kenosha HarborMarket is beyond a habit in our household. It is a ritual, and a place that we go to enjoy sunny, breezy harbor-side surroundings where we can buy top quality locally grown and produced (a requirement for vendor participation), fruit, vegetables, flowers, plants, baked goods, cheese and meats. It also is a place where one may purchase artisan-produced goods; hand crafted scarves, jewelry, soaps, lotions, candles, even fine, master-craftsman hewn wooden bowls, pet accessories, whimsical birdhouses, bird feeders and garden ornamentation to name just a few; all very reasonably priced, and in some cases, negotiable.
HarborMarket also is a place where one may have something to eat, wander about and linger to listen to live musicians or take a few moments to visit with vendors to talk about their crops and products, about what they believe is of exceptional quality that day, what could stand to be better, and what you can expect over the upcoming weeks. Some vendors have sold at the HarborMarket for years, so they subsequently have developed a loyal customer following, and they care about the quality they offer to their loyal customers. This is not a flea market type farmer's market manned by transient vendors, who sell overstock items, cheaply made single use junk, and out-of-state produce that chain stores passed over a few days earlier. Product quality and vendor adherence to HarborMarket guidelines and quality standards are key here.
We have farmer markets in communities closer to our home. They are very nice, very convenient, but truth be told, none appear to be as well regulated, nor feature the number of vendors, nor variety and quality as HarborMarket does. None of them have comparable surroundings on a public square next to a scenic harbor on Lake Michigan that features old-fashioned, circa 1940-1950 streetcars, brightly colored lighthouses, beautifully planted and manicured garden beds, a teeming cooling fountain, benches and picnic tables, also where, just a few feet away, one may visit Kenosha's Natural History or Civil War Museum. That combination, fellow Yelpsters, cannot be rivaled.
Suggestion: Make an effort to visit your local cash station before hitting the HarborMarket, since some vendors may not accept plastic or personal checks for for items that cost, $1, $2, $3, under $10 or so dollars.
Keep in mind that a term of vendor participation is that produce must be locally grown. So, if you note that tomatoes and sweet corn are not offered, know it is because it still is too early in the season for their harvest. As a result, the only produce that will be offered is at its height of freshness.