Saturday at The Windmill

Where the Finger Lakes Comes to Market

By 11 Lakes Magazine

Saturday morning arrives differently along Route 14A.

Just south of Penn Yan, cars begin turning off the highway. Vendors arrange their displays. Fresh produce appears in baskets and crates. The smell of baked goods and coffee drifts between buildings as shoppers begin making their way along the paths.

Some have come with grocery lists.

Others are looking for handmade furniture, quilts, crafts or something they didn’t know they wanted until they saw it.

And plenty have come simply because going to The Windmill Farm & Craft Market is part of a Finger Lakes Saturday.

What began nearly four decades ago as a place for area farmers and craftspeople to sell their goods has developed into one of the region’s best-known markets—a sprawling collection of food, agriculture, craftsmanship and community in the countryside outside Penn Yan.

But The Windmill is more than somewhere to shop.

It is a place to wander.

From a Local Idea to a Finger Lakes Tradition

The Windmill opened in 1987 with an idea rooted in the surrounding agricultural community: create a marketplace where local producers and craftspeople could bring their goods directly to customers.

The concept fit naturally into the landscape.

Yates County and the surrounding Finger Lakes have long been shaped by farms, small businesses and Amish and Mennonite communities. A market provided a place where many of those traditions could meet the growing number of visitors discovering the region.

What started relatively modestly grew.

Today, The Windmill stretches across dozens of acres and brings together a large collection of indoor and outdoor vendors during its operating season.

Yet despite its size, the experience remains surprisingly personal.

You aren’t walking through identical storefronts.

You are moving from one small business to another.

And that makes all the difference.

Come Hungry

There is one piece of advice worth following before visiting The Windmill:

Don’t eat too much breakfast.

Food is part of the experience.

Depending on the day’s vendors, visitors may encounter baked goods, cheeses, jams, preserves, produce, barbecue, sandwiches, pretzels, sweets, coffee and other local specialties.

Some purchases are destined for the pantry.

Others don’t survive the walk back to the car.

That is part of the pleasure of a farm market. Food isn’t separated from the people and landscape that produced it.

A jar of jam has a place attached to it.

So does a loaf of bread.

So does the tomato that was likely growing in a nearby field not long before it reached the market.

In a region increasingly celebrated for its culinary scene, The Windmill offers a reminder that Finger Lakes food culture begins with agriculture.

Things Made by Hand

Then there is the craftsmanship.

Walk through the market and the difference between something manufactured by the thousands and something made by an individual becomes immediately apparent.

Wooden furniture carries grain patterns no machine can duplicate.

Quilts reveal hours of careful work.

There may be pottery, candles, leather goods, jewelry, textiles, artwork and decorative pieces created by craftspeople from across the region.

These aren’t simply souvenirs.

Many represent traditions that remain very much alive in rural Upstate New York.

That is particularly evident in work produced by Amish and Mennonite craftspeople, whose woodworking, quilting, baking and other skills have become closely associated with the agricultural communities surrounding Penn Yan.

The market gives visitors an opportunity to encounter that craftsmanship without turning it into a museum exhibit.

These are traditions still being practiced.

And the things being made are intended to be used.

The Pleasure of Not Knowing What You’ll Find

Perhaps the best way to visit The Windmill is without a strict plan.

Start walking.

Turn when something catches your eye.

Talk to the person behind the table.

Taste something.

Look through the next building.

Then the next.

Markets reward curiosity.

One shopper may leave with vegetables and cheese.

Another may discover a piece of furniture.

Someone else finds a Christmas gift months before Christmas.

A child becomes fascinated by something entirely unexpected.

And somewhere along the way, lunch happens.

The Windmill is large enough that visitors can spend hours exploring, but it rarely feels like a conventional shopping center.

The experience is closer to a small community temporarily assembled every Saturday.

A Meeting Place

That community aspect may be the market’s greatest strength.

The Windmill attracts visitors traveling through Finger Lakes wine country, families spending a weekend near Keuka Lake and people who make the trip several times each season.

But it also remains a gathering place for local residents.

Those groups mingle naturally.

People eat at picnic tables. They stop to listen when musicians are performing. Families move between buildings. Shoppers carry bags back toward their cars and then decide there is still one section they haven’t explored.

Special events throughout the season add another dimension, but the market itself is the attraction.

There doesn’t have to be a festival happening.

Saturday is reason enough.

The Landscape Behind the Market

It is easy to concentrate on what is being sold and miss the larger story.

The Windmill exists because of the landscape surrounding it.

Drive a few miles in almost any direction and the connection becomes obvious.

There are farms.

Vineyards.

Farm stands.

Small villages.

Fields climbing toward wooded hills.

And the distinctive Y-shaped waters of Keuka Lake nearby.

This is a working landscape as much as it is a vacation destination.

The Windmill brings those two Finger Lakes together.

Visitors experience the region.

Residents produce much of what visitors have come to experience.

At the market, those worlds meet face to face.

Make It Part of the Journey

The Windmill is located along Route 14A south of Penn Yan, making it an easy addition to a day exploring Keuka Lake and the surrounding countryside.

But don’t treat it as a quick stop between wineries.

Give it some time.

Arriving earlier in the day generally means more time to browse and a better opportunity to see the market before the busiest part of the afternoon.

Wear comfortable shoes.

Bring an appetite.

And leave some room in the car.

Most importantly, resist the temptation to rush through it.

The best part of The Windmill isn’t necessarily finding what you came to buy.

It is discovering what you weren’t looking for.

A Finger Lakes Saturday

There are grander attractions in the Finger Lakes.

There are waterfalls that command attention, lakes that stretch toward the horizon and vineyards whose wines are known around the world.

The Windmill offers something different.

It brings the region down to human scale.

A farmer and a basket of produce.

A baker and a loaf of bread.

A woodworker and a piece of furniture.

A family sharing lunch at a picnic table.

A conversation between someone who lives here and someone visiting for the first time.

By late afternoon, shoppers begin heading home. Vendors start thinking about closing. The crowds thin and another Saturday at the market approaches its end.

Then, a week later, it begins again.

The tables are filled.

The doors open.

And for another Saturday, the Finger Lakes comes to market.