Rain or shine, swing by the Market Place

Fernandina’s Market Place farmers market will be open Saturday, May 20, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine. Swing by for great music by Chris Loomis while enjoying a morning outdoors with your neighbors, before the heat of summer sets in. The Wildlight Market Place farmers and arts market in Yulee will also be open Saturday.

In Fernandina, you will find just what you look to find in a well-established farmers market such as spring produce, wild-caught shrimp, landscaping plants, terrariums, flowering baskets, succulents and herbs, prepared foods, flavored salts, hand-crafted soaps, micro-greens, chicken, eggs, duck, beef, pork, orchids, all-natural bug spray and more.

Riverwood Candles is back with their hand-crafted, natural soy wax candles and clean burning wooden wicks. Their glass containers are easily cleaned, so you can re-purpose, recycle or reuse. Available in a wide variety of scents, they now offer diffusers, too. Red Flag Spicy Foods comes to the market every Saturday, and they are experts when it comes to making delicious hot mustards. Chef Jason created a mild mustard called Big Fat Dynamo. Made with Yuengling lager, roasted red peppers, jalapeno pepper mash and other spices, this is great in your deviled eggs or homemade potato salad. Max Power, a medium heat mustard, has been created with a wheat beer, brown sugar and juniper. If you dare to try the hottest, check out Space Coyote. This is a grainy mustard sauce with roasted garlic, stout beer and five of the world’s hottest peppers. The chef will be on site and offering samples, so go ahead and try it; I double-dog dare you. If you are looking for something milder, check out the vegan or sugar-free salad dressings offered by weekly vendor Joy of Garlic. Florida Fusion is a vegan blend of tangy tangerine and sweet teriyaki with a touch of heat from chipotle peppers. Garlic Lemon is a combination of olive oil, fresh garlic, lemon juice and their custom Mediterranean spice mix, and did I mention this is a sugar-free dressing?

In Yulee, you will find our sister market near Interstate 95 in the newer Wildlight community. Red Flag will be there with a booth hosted by Momma Jane, Chef Jason's mother. Ferra’s Bakery, also found in the Fernandina market, will be set up with cookies, fresh breads, brownies, baklava, cinnamon rolls and other tasty pastry. Wildlight also has artist and craft booths with jewelry, quilts, pottery, woodworking, leather, hand-crafted soaps, dog collars, paintings and more.

The Fernandina Beach market is located downtown on North Seventh Street. Wildlight is located at 123 Tinker St., on the north side of State Road 200. Both markets will have management on hand to answer your questions, give bad advice and wrong directions. Well-behaved leashed pets are welcome, and both markets can be found on Facebook. Vendor applications, rules and lease agreements are available at FernandinaBeachMarketPlace.com or WildlightMarketPlace.com.