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The fourth Alexandria, Va., farmers market – and only mid-week option – opened for the season this week. The Upper King Street Fresh Farmers Market is held on Wednesdays from 3 to 7 pm, located just across from the King Street Metro station (blue/yellow lines) in a little park. If you’re coming from the Metro, look for the giant green wall which shelters the park.

There were a full complement of new vendors this year, with Bigg Riggs farm (greens & jarred products) and the rainbow umbrellas of Maribeth’s Bakery the only familiar faces from last year’s inaugural season. Del Ray Market shoppers will recognize Tom the Cheese Guy (cave-aged cheddar, cheeses, eggs, yogurt and Amish baked goods), Shlagel Farms (spotted at Shlagel, the season’s first cherries!) and Vera’s Bakery (scones and more). Cibola Farms fills the sorely-needed meat vendor slot with high-quality Virginia grass-fed buffalo, pork and more. (I believe this is Cibola‘s first foray into Alexandria, they also sell at Penn Quarter, Dupont Circle, Arlington and others.) Breadline appears with artisanal baguettes and baked goods, and Long Hollow Ecological Farm from the Shenandoah Valley is another new produce vendor. I only recently discovered Long Hollow at the Oakton market, and their strawberries are the most flavorful I’ve found on this coast. (And I had market-fresh California strawberries on Sunday, so that’s saying something.)

This market is great for restocking the fridge mid-week, especially if you, say, fly back into town on a Wednesday morning and have nothing on hand. With the addition of Tom and Cibola, it now passes the complete-meal test as well. And most importantly, it’s just a short walk beyond our neigborhood playground.