It’s been nearly 7 months since we took pre-orders for Mercado, the farmers market bag that I asked the Quirky Inc. community to help me design, and the wait is finally over. Mercado is now shipping and we are accepting new orders.

I think you’ll love the final product, we spent months making sure every detail is perfect. I tested multiple versions of the bag and they integrated all my suggestions on design and materials to create the best product possible.

Mercado: The Ultimate Farmers Market Bag

I couldn’t be happier with the outcome, and it’s just in time for farmers market season. If you submitted a pre-order you should have received an email yesterday. Click on the link they provide to confirm your shipment. Please check your spam folder if you can’t find the email.

You can order the bag directly from Quirky. You can even grab a custom link that lets you earn 10% on sales if you share it with your friends and followers. The bag will practically pay for itself 😉

Mercado: The Ultimate Farmers Market Bag

Thanks everyone for your patience and continued support. I can’t wait until Mercado arrives in your mailboxes!

Order Mercado Now

I’ve talked before about how much thought and preparation I put into getting all my farmers market produce home undamaged. Though the tactics I use work decently well, they are by no means perfect and are more than a little bit of a hassel.

To address my farmers market bag problem more directly I’m partnering with Quirky, and we need your help. Call upon your inner super genius to help us design a new farmers market bag that will let me shop at the farmers market without coming home to a bag of crushed tomatoes.

If you aren’t familiar with Quirky, they turns great ideas into amazing products. For this Brief project they have been cool enough to wave the normal submission fee. So if you have an idea for a revolutionary new farmers market bag, submit it at Quirky by next Monday. The winning design will be chosen on Friday, December 10, and will be produced and sold to shoppers.

Submit your ideas here

Learn more about the Quirky process here

The official write up on my project is below. Watch the video for more info about my bag problem.

I can’t wait to see what you come up with!

Brief #9: Let’s Make The Perfect Farmers Market Bag

For this week’s Quirky Brief, we’re partnering with Darya Pino, a San Francisco-based scientist, foodie, and writer. Her popular blog, Summer Tomato, offers tips and advice on healthy eating, especially for foodies in urban areas.

When we first met Darya, she told us all about a food shopping problem that drives her crazy. Whenever she shops at her local farmers market, she inevitably comes home to bruised produce.

She’s taken to bringing two separate bags – a big one for heavy stuff and a smaller one for delicate fruits and veggies — along with a Tupperware set for isolating vulnerable produce and a handful of biodegradable plastic bags for separating purchases.

Four different products, just to go shopping? There’s gotta be a better way to port produce.

Quirky community and Summer Tomato readers, let’s unite to create the perfect farmers market bag.

We flew out to San Francisco to check out the problem firsthand at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market, and we captured the crux of it in the video. Watch it, and once inspiration strikes, head to the Invent tab on Quirky.com to submit your idea for free!

Submit your ideas at Quirky