For the last handful of years that I’ve been here, I can remember the moment I got out of the car to attend the first market of the season for Urbana’s Market at the Square.
Most years, it’s pleasantly breezy and warm. The sun shines over rows and rows of tents. You can almost feel the winter months breaking off of you like hardened clay.
Something about it just feels bright, accessible and hopeful.
Those first few weeks, the market is filled with plant starts that elicit big dreams for to-be-planted gardens. Walking the aisles, you feel lighter. It just feels right. Not only do you know that summer is here, but you know that there’s some good, beautifully local, food ahead.
The market’s run starts with one of my favorite things: Strawberry season.
Strawberries hit the market almost as soon as it opens, and I swear they’re some of the fastest things to go each morning. For me, strawberry season is the true kickoff of the beauty of a farmer’s market — beautiful, flavorful, locally-grown produce that can be used so many different ways.
This time of year, I find myself eating as many strawberry things as I can. Strawberry and goat cheese salad? Yes please, especially if the goat cheese comes from Prairie Fruits Farm. A bright and tart strawberry pie? You got it, but make sure you use Janie’s Mill Organic Flours. In past years, I’ve gone savory — making sauces that combine fresh strawberries and early-season greenhouse tomatoes from Fruitful Vines.
The desire to embrace strawberries as much as possible even led me to start homebrewing wine with the fruit back in 2024. My first try resulted in a crisp, flavorful rosé-style beverage. The best part? That taste is pure Central Illinois.
I think of strawberry season as quite literally a taste of things to come — soon sour cherries will join the party, and as the weeks progress we’ll see even larger crops and varieties of vegetables.
We’re a few weeks out from corn and starting to see some cherry tomatoes, which take us into full-on tomato season and then wrapping up with gourd season before we pack up for winter.
It’s the greatest time of year to be someone who loves eating and cooking in Champaign-Urbana.
While my romanticism for farmer’s markets is pretty firmly rooted in Urbana’s Market at the Square (I got married there last year), our entire community is chock-full of opportunities to embrace the freshness of the season. There’s a market in downtown Champaign on Tuesday afternoons (and they just expanded hours for some of those!). The Land Connection, which runs that Champaign market, also has its hand in several other markets around the region. There are so many opportunities around the area to get fresh, local, affordable food.
As you get ready to hit the market this weekend, stop by a stand you’ve never stopped by. Talk to the growers, learn about what they love — that’s inevitably how you’ll find the coolest and best stuff.
And, most importantly, take a breath. Breathe it all in. The months between May 1 and Oct. 31 feel rare, and we need to store up as much market joy as we can to save up for the time after (while still supporting our community’s indoor markets!).
So here’s to strawberry season. Here’s to our markets. And here’s to all the seasons that follow.
I’ll see you there.
Jake Williams is a journalist, editor and publisher based in Urbana, Illinois. Williams is also the CEO of the Illini Media Company, Chambana Eats' parent organization.