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Farmers are taking root in the city, and the Annex will soon be the latest addition to their Toronto market tour.

Last year new farmers' markets opened up in Liberty Village and Dufferin Grove. Local residents decided it was time to invite their rural neighbours in to sell their wares.

The Harbord Village Residents' Association (HVRA) along with the Annex Residents' Association (ARA) and the Sussex-Ulster Ratepayers' Association has been working with Farmers' Markets Ontario to bring a new market to the Green P parking lot at Lippincott just south of Bloor.

Bob Chorney of Farmers' Markets Ontario said he couldn't say much on the subject until the details were finalized.

"We'll be issuing a press release in due course," he said.

However, he did note that he anticipates the market will be branded under the "Certified Farmers' Market" banner which will allow only vendors who grow their own produce to sell their wares.

Other markets allow buyers, who sometimes will purchase produce from the Ontario Food Terminal, to resell the produce (which isn't always local).

As people become more conscious of where their food is coming from, the locality becomes more important, said Chorney.

"Shoppers really appreciate the integrity of these (certified) markets," he added.

Certified Farmers' Markets in Toronto only involve local Greenbelt farmers.

This falls into the vision of the local residents' associations.

"The 100-mile diet is of interest," said Sue Dexter who contacted Chorney to get the ball rolling last year. "People are concerned about their health and about their environment."

During a January meeting, residents had the opportunity to meet with some of the farmers and understand their reasons for wanting to set up in the city.

Dexter said that in the same way her solar panels connect her to sun, residents have formed a bond with the farmers who grow the food that will be on their tables.

"They have become our farmers," she said. "There is a feeling of gratitude for the work the farmers do."

The community has been very supportive of the endeavor said HVRA president Gus Sinclair. "There hasn't been one peep of disapproval," said Sinclair.

"We wanted to be very careful to engage all the merchants on Bloor Street," said Sinclair. "They all support the idea."

The Bloor Annex BIA will be involved with the process, said member of the ARA Paul Martel.

"There will be a market advisory committee," said Martel, noting that representatives and alternates will be chosen from each of the various stakeholder groups in the community.

"This is certainly a unifying project," said Martel.

Sinclair hopes that the market will take on a festival-type atmosphere. He foresees local musicians performing and local residents associations having a place at the table.

"I foresee this being not just the place you buy your veg," he said. "It will be a place where you can meet your neighbours, talk about how the kids are doing."

Sinclair believes the market will help to build on the legacy left behind by the late great urban planner Jane Jacobs.

"It's a social encounter in the Jane Jacobs's sense," he said. "Anything you can do to bring people together is a community builder by definition."

The proposed market would be open on Wednesday afternoons from 3 to 7 p.m.

This model was chosen to allow for the maximum amount of traffic, nabbing both daytime shoppers and those on their way home from school or work. The market should open in June.