Local farmers, artisans set for busy weekend at Lincoln Square Mall market

Urbana’s Market at the Square brings more than 100 Illinois vendors to Lincoln Square Mall every Saturday, offering fresh food, handmade goods, and local products.

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Photo: Sentinel/Clark Brooks

Early shoppers enjoy a quiet morning at last month's Urbana Market at the Square.

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URBANA - Long before the summer heat settles in, shoppers begin filling the walkways at Lincoln Square Mall, where more than 100 Illinois farmers, food producers and artisans transform Urbana's Market at the Square into one of the region's largest weekly gatherings for locally grown food and handcrafted goods.

Open from 7 a.m. to noon every Saturday through the last weekend in October, the producer-only market offers visitors the opportunity to buy directly from the people who grow, raise and make their products in Illinois.

From fresh produce and locally raised meats to handmade pottery, jewelry, candles, clothing and garden décor, the market draws thousands of shoppers throughout the season while supporting Illinois agriculture and small businesses.

Returning shoppers know the market as a place to stock up on seasonal fruits and vegetables, browse handcrafted artwork and enjoy a leisurely Saturday morning. First-time visitors will find vendors selling an extensive selection of products, including dairy items, prepared foods, flowers, plants, woodwork and body care products.

All vendors accept cash and personal checks. Many also accept credit cards, while some offer electronic payment options through Venmo and Apple Pay. LINK benefits are accepted after being converted into market tokens.

Among the featured vendors this Saturday, July 4, is Voss Pecans, a family-owned farm in Southern Illinois that has supplied fresh pecans to Market at the Square customers for nearly three decades.

Saturday marks one of only three remaining appearances this summer for the Voss family, whose operation spans four generations. Family members handle every step of production, including orchard maintenance, harvesting, cleaning, cracking and packaging, before bringing the finished product directly to market.

Fresh vegetables and microgreens will also be abundant at The Little Farm Co., where shoppers can find broccoli, kale, kohlrabi, arugula, sunflower shoots, pea shoots, cilantro, basil, radish, tatsoi, Swiss chard, leeks, wheatgrass, popcorn shoots, cantaloupe and other seasonal produce.

The farm's wide selection of microgreens offers shoppers an easy way to add nutrient-rich greens to salads, sandwiches and smoothies. According to the farm, the varieties provide a broad range of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and naturally occurring plant compounds, including vitamins A, C, E and K, calcium, iron, magnesium, potassium, sulforaphane and chlorophyll.

Art lovers can also visit the booth of Champaign-Urbana artist Phil Strang, who will display more than 80 prints and greeting cards created from his paintings.

Strang has painted since his junior high school years in New York and has spent the past 20 years developing a distinctive style of painting on glass. After eye surgeries made intricate work more difficult, he began experimenting with splatter painting in 2014.

A Champaign-Urbana resident for 56 years, Strang has also built a long career in the local arts community as a musician, actor, writer and theater manager. He has performed in more than 50 theatrical productions, written numerous reviews covering music, art and theater, managed a music store for more than 30 years and later oversaw two theaters and an auditorium at the University of Illinois. Since retiring in 2016, he has continued painting.

Whether visitors arrive with shopping lists or simply want to enjoy a morning outdoors, Market at the Square remains one of Urbana's signature summer destinations, offering fresh food, handcrafted goods and the chance to meet the people behind them.

Additional information about weekly vendors, market events and LINK benefits is available at the market's website.

This week's vendors:

AO - Spicy and Sweet
AT&T
Atropos Scissors
Bad Bear Pottery
Bakelab LLC
BeepBoop
Ben & Molly's Farm
Burrito King Food Trucks
Carly Morrison Clay
Carnation Bookhouse
Cary's Garden of Eatin
Central Illinois Bakehouse
Chamomile Rose Massage Therapy Clinic LLc
Champaign County Democrats
Champaign County Forest Preserve District
Champaign County Indivisible
Champaign Urbana Reparations Coalition
Champaign-Urbana Public Health District
CIMIC
Cindy Sampson/Sampson N Delilah
Ck Almonds
Claybank Farms
Country Cottage Farm
CRYSTAL VALLEY FARMS
Cuddlebug Cottage
Delight Flower Farm
Denim & Dye
Discardistry
El Oasis
Ellen's Melons Roots and Fruits
Elm City Coffee
EvermoreWood
Everyday Feast
Foufoufactory
Fresh Press
Fruitful Vines
Gadgets & Gizmos A-plenty
Gelater llc
Good Judys Espresso & Bagel Bar
Good Thoughts
Granny Cakes
Green G Farm
Hanna’s Hobbies
Heart Fired Pottery
Illinois Willows
J&S Sales
Jasmine’s Jewelry Co
Jehovah's Witnesses
Joyfully Blooming
Jurassic Grill
Keke's
Key Lime Pie etc
Koller family gardens
Kountry Fresh / Koss Family Farms
Krase Crystals and Bugscapes
Lancaster Flower Co.
Lazy Daisy Diner and Cafe
Leeyah-Symone Lemonade Stand
Little Bird Pottery
Living Light Farms
Lucania Arts
Maxwell’s Mushroom Farm
Melissa Morgan
Mellie Lia Crafts
Mexican Delicacies La Paloma
MILEUR ORCHARD
Modern Rose Handstitched
Moore Family Farm
Mueller Family Farm LLC
Nano Farms
Niece's Pieces Brownies
NitroCup
Not Too Sweet
Ochoa Farm
Olde Tyme Kettle Korn
Perspire Sauna Studio
Phil Strang Artist
Piato Catering & Organic Food Nanny
PopCycle, LLC
Prairie Fruits Farm & Creamery
QuirkyCraftopia
Redtail Academy MIddle School for Boys
Reimagined Relics
Richard Oosterhoff & Son
Roth Countryside Produce
Sager Farms
Sane jungle
SBSTRANDCOLLECTION
Science at the Market, Physics UIUC
Second Nature Honey
Siddity Pig Pork Snacks
Sierra Club Prairie Group
simply vicki
Sista's Savory Organic Tea LLC
Sola Gratia Farm
Sparkles by Stephanie
SPROUTS!
Stango Cuisine
Strawberry Void
Strictly Wicks Candle Company
Sugared In Champaign LLC
Sweet N Simple
The Button Man
The Fabric Loop
The Fancy Tomato
The Little Farm Co.
The Macaron Palace
The Rudd Homestead
The Wright Soapery
Thoughtful Fiber Arts
Three Angels Family Farm
Three Berry Flowers
Tiger Gardens
Triple S Farms
Twin City Theatre Company
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
University of Illinois Developmental Psychology Labs
Urbana Woodworks
Voss Pecans
Warm Paws Baker

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