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| Local Farmers’ Market opens June 23 |
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6/15/2018
By Brianna Stephens
Advocate Staff writer
Although some farmers got a late start on their fields this year, the opening day of the Montgomery County Farmers’ Market is still expected to offer a variety of goods.
Market President William Day said the uneven season transition delayed several farmers from planting early, including himself, but several vendors should be ready for the first market.
The market officially opens at 7 a.m. Saturday, June 23, at the Montgomery County Square Shopping Center, 1342 Indian Mound Drive.
It will continue every Wednesday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to noon until mid-October.
Senior citizen and WIC coupons will be accepted.
For opening day, market goers can expect tomatoes, green beans, cucumbers, summer squash, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and onions in addition to baked goods, canned goods, jams, jellies and flowers. Sweet corn can be expected in July, Day said. During the first weeks of the market, several vendors sell out before noon, Day said, and noted the best hours to come to the market to avoid sellouts are between 7 and 9 a.m.
Day said the number of vendors for the market has grown in recent years. This year, he said between 20 to 25 vendors have signed up to participate in the market. The vendors not only represent Montgomery County, but also Clark, Bourbon, Bath and Menifee counties, he added.
In the state, Day said Montgomery County’s market could be considered one of the best because of the effort the vendors give.
“Ours is among the best and the biggest. We compete with Fayette County,” Day said. “We’re pretty diverse with what we grow and with our people.”
The relationship between vendors and their customers is another way the farmers’ market is special, Day said.
Around 200 people are served at the market with the number increasing on holidays, Day said, but vendors form strong personal relationships with everyone they see.
“Most of our customers are friends and neighbors,” Day said. “We’re pretty close knit to our customers.”
At the end of each market week, Day said some vendors choose to donate their surplus to different causes to help fight against hunger.
Day encourages the community to visit the farmers’ market not only for the fresh produce, but to support local farmers.
“You know our stuff is picked fresh and you know who’s giving it to you,” Day said. “The individuals that are giving it to you are the ones that made it.”
Rather than going to a major grocery, Day added shopping at a farmers’ market helps keep money in the community to support local needs.
During the summer the market will also have special events and some vendors will appear at the First Friday Markets. More information will be given through radio and newspaper ads and fliers, Day said.
The farmers’ market could move to its new downtown location by this August or hopefully no later than Court Days, Day said.
Plans to move the market’s location to a new covered structure with bathrooms near the Adena Trail were delayed because of the weather and a delay in the approval of a structure design, Downtown Revitalization Committee chair Dr. Danielle King said in a recent downtown merchants meeting.
Wet weather made it difficult for the core drilling and drawings for a design had to be submitted three times, she said. A design has been approved, King added, but the money had not been awarded at that time.
King said she was unsure of the timeline for the project but hoped the structure would be complete by August.
The vendors are anxious for the new structure, Day said. He said the vendors will wait to move the market downtown until the project is entirely complete so the public can have a good first impression of the new market space.
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