The Dundee Township Visitor's Center

The Dundee Farmer's Market is held 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Saturday mid May through October. We typically get around 40 vendors each week selling veggies (in season), honey, flowers, and bedding plants, plus soaps, antiques, and collectibles. New vendors are always welcome!
Call (847) 426-4307 for booth information and visit our rules and regulations page for other details about becoming a vendor.

We had lots of entries for our 13th-annual tomato contest!
Scroll waaaay down to see the the results.

(Read about last year's contest here)

Our closing day for the market includes the annual Great Pumpkin contest.
Story and pictures also below...scroll waaaaay down! You can also read local coverage in the Daily Herald here.
(Read about last year's contest here)

Behold Here and Now Herb singing the infamous banana song! You know it's going to be a good day when there are bananas to be had at the depot.

Read all about our annual contests below...

13th-Annual Tomato Contest Winners Announced

Shown here from left are contest organizer Bill Zelsdorf, winner Norm Thomas,3rd place Steve Tobler, 4th place Gail Russell, and 2nd place Adam Tobler.

By JULIE MULLEN For Sun-Times Media

[August 21, 2010, East Dundee, IL] While growing tomatoes is for sustenance, it's also a social endeavor, according to 82 year-old East Dundee resident Norm Thomas.

"I do it more for fun and for friends," Thomas said. "I end up with tons of them for family and neighbors. I grow them mainly to share them with people."

August marks the height of tomato ripening for the area, which is why those with a knack for spawning a huge varietal came to the Dundee Township Visitor's Center on Saturday.

Area residents flocked to the 13th annual Largest Tomato Contest to hopefully share in the $1,000 in prizes being doled out.

Thomas took first place for his two-pound, eight- and one-eighth-ounce giant split-apart fruit that was, perhaps, better for weighing than for eating.

"I didn't want to eat that one; it was bad news," Thomas said with a laugh.

Second place, with a tomato weighing just one-eighth of an ounce less than Thomas', went to Elgin resident Adam Tobler. Third place was captured by his father, Steve Tobler, who grew a two-pound, four-ounce tomato, followed by Gail Russell in fourth place, with one weighing two-pounds, three-and-five-eighths ounces.

Twenty-four entries in all were brought in to the contest on Saturday. Tomatoes were judged by weight, and could be red, green, or any variation of ripeness in between.

Prizes, donated by area merchants, such as Old Country Buffet, were given out for first through fourth places, and totaled $400, $300, $200, and $100, respectively.

Other business donors included Dundee Landscape Nursery, Liberty Lanes, Diamond Jim's, Dairy Queen, Olive Garden, and Red Lobster.

Dundee Township Visitor's Center board member Bill Zelsdorf runs both a tomato- and pumpkin-growing contest each year primarily for fun, but also to highlight the Visitor's Center at 319 N. River St., as well as the weekly farmers market held on its grounds.

"It has to be fun. Otherwise, what's the point?" said Zelsdorf, who is also the new coordinator of the farmers market. "The vendors really enjoy it, and it brings attention to our market and center."

The Old Dundee Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. each Saturday through October and features various vendors selling locally grown produce, plants and flowers, collectibles, antiques, and jewelry.

Thomas, who has won second and third places in the contest in past years, said he doesn't really have a secret to growing larger tomatoes in his backyard -- only the second of two East Dundee homes he's lived in.

Maybe Thomas' success stems from his motivation to share his crops -- which also include cucumbers and peppers.

"I think it's just good soil, and I use Burpee seeds, which I order each year," he said. "I do raise my own plants from seed, which seems to help. It's just fun to share them with other people."

Pumpkins!

13th-Annual Pumpkin Contest

Shown here is this year's winner in best decorated, 13-year-old Ryan Saxon. Last year, Ryan took home second place in the biggest-pumpkin category, so decided to try his hand at decorating this year. "I've been collecting Peanuts stuff all my life, and I love Halloween," he said.

Story By Julie Mullen
Originally for the Courier-News
Oct 30, 2011
EAST DUNDEE — While it was no easy task lugging giant pumpkins to the Dundee Township Visitors Center, it was well worth it in the end for several area residents who captured a virtual boatload of prizes.

Mike Wilson’s 175-pound pumpkin topped the scales in the weight division, followed by 132- and 113-pound runners-up.

Wilson, who lives in the village, said it was the first time he had ever grown a pumpkin and just got lucky.

"I didn’t do anything more than put the seed in the ground and water it," Wilson said. "It was the luck of the seed."

The giant squashes, suitable for making at least a dozen pies apiece, were the highlight at the center’s 13th annual Great Pumpkin Contest on Saturday.

However, size wasn’t the only factor being weighed by the ten-member panel of judges. Those with a creative flair captured half of the $1,200 in prizes up for grabs.

Bill Zelsdorf, who has run the contest since its inception in 1999, said that the event is a fun way to highlight the Visitor’s Center at 319 N. River St., as well as the farmers market held on its grounds, May through October.

The top prize in the decorating category went to 13 year-old Ryan Saxon of Oakwood Hills.

Saxon, whose father is a vendor in the market, is admittedly obsessed with Peanuts characters. He created a graduated tower of seven pumpkins as a tribute, with the face of Linus carved into one and a picture of Lucy drawn on another.

"I am fascinated with Peanuts stuff, and thought it would be cool to do a ‘Great Pumpkin’ theme," Saxon said.

Zelsdorf announced first, second, and third place winners in both categories, doling $300, $200, and $100 respectively in gifts and gift certificates from local merchants.

Merchant donors included Old Country Buffet, Dundee Landscape Nursery, Haeger Potteries, Barb's Studio 104, Diamond Jim’s Gas Grill, Liberty Lanes, One Cut Above the Rest hair salon, and Piece-A-Cake Bakery, among others.

While Zelsdorf receives many thank-you’s at the event, he is quick to tell anyone listening that the sponsors are the real reason the contest is a success.

"They are just wonderful," Zelsdorf said. "They get hit hard by so many people looking for donations. But they wait until I come in…and save things for me."

The farmers market — which assembled for the last time this season on Saturday — had a good year, Zelsdorf said, despite some rain.

"It was still a huge success," he said. "It’s hard to not be, with so much to offer and a great family of vendors."

A few of our entries:

About the Depot
Situated right next to the Fox River Bike Trail, the Depot is a popular rest stop for bike trail users in need of snacks, beverages or a water bottle fill up. We also sell Dundee-themed merchandise, including our "Bike Me" and "Follow the Fox" trail shirts, and we've got plenty of area information about restaurants, attractions and the 60-mile bike trail.

Follow the Fox!
Get your own limited-edition Fox River Bike Trail shirt now while they last.

Available in butter yellow (shown here), safety green, dark orange, khaki, natural, and purple in a variety of sizes while supplies last. Just $10!! Makes a great gift