Today we’d like to introduce you to Salila Travers.
Hi Salila, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
This market was started over 25 years ago. It has changed names several times, and is located in the north east overflow lot at Barton Creek Square Mall. It has enough parking for everyone, and the live music and cafe is set against the beautiful Austin cityscape! The mall even installed a cement pad to use for photos.
We have a large variety of vendors; of course our emphasis is on farms and ranches, but the other vendors support the market, and enable us to provide assistance to the growers when they need it.
We offer a variety or delicious, organic prepared foods, most of which offer local foods from the farms and ranches around Austin.
We offer live music weekly (barring rain or other unexpected events) and a cafe. Jimmy Joe Natoli usually plays the first Saturday of the month and provides small chairs and large stuffed animals for the kids. He has written some great kids’ songs. We have a lot of talented, singer/songwriters singing their own songs.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It definitely has gone up and down, depending on a lot of different factors.
As you know, we’re big fans of Barton Creek Farmers Market. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Our emphasis is on empowering farms, ranchers, and other growers. My goal is to help create more small farms around here to supply farmers markets and local restaurants, etc. We specialize in the healthiest food possible within reason. i like to support vendors starting out, who need to start small. Many businesses have start out at the market, and are now local or even national.
Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
We emphasize two things: one is that responsible, competent people deserve to be paid well. The other is that vendors need to make money, so their charges need to be something they can easily afford.
One thing we do is we don’t make vendors come every week. No one is required to have a set schedule, but we do need to be informed of their schedule.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://bartoncreekfarmersmarket.org/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bartoncreekfarmersmarket/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bartoncreekfarmersmarket
