An online version of the Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market launches this weekend in Traverse City and will continue weekly through April, allowing customers to order market products from local farmers for the first time during winter months.

Online ordering will open on the Sara Hardy Downtown Farmers Market website each Saturday at noon starting this weekend, with a cutoff for placing orders each Thursday at noon. Customers can then drive up and pick up their orders for the week on Saturday anytime between 10am and 1pm at The Workshop Brewing Company on Garland Street in downtown Traverse City. A market representative will be at the front door to take customer names and pull orders. Those using food assistance programs will need to have enough cash to cover either the entire order or the amount of the order not covered by assistance. At this time, delivery and shipping options are not available for the online market.

The Traverse City Downtown Development Authority first launched an online market late May as a safety response to the pandemic. DDA CEO Jean Derenzy told The Ticker that hosting a virtual farmers market this winter will be a crucial first step toward determining whether Sara Hardy can become a viable year-round market.