FARMER'S MARKETS SOON TO BE IN SEASON

TIS THE SEASON – FARMERS MARKETS GEARING UP TO OPEN

Here we are once again, the start of the local farmers markets! Local farmers selling their crops of fantastic FRESH produce!!!!! Or let’s hope that they are selling THEIR fresh produce and not produce trucked in from other areas that they did not raise.

History tells us that farmers have sold their produce at farmers markets, roadside stands and local festivals for centuries. It was their way of earning a little extra income and dispensing of their abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables harvested on their farms.

There is nothing as frustrating as going to a market that is advertised as ALL PRODUCE LOCALLY GROWN BY VENDORS, only to find tomatoes grown in hot houses in Arkansas and watermelons (out of season locally) grown in Texas and Mexico., then trucked up here to be sold. Why go to a farmers market when you can find this type of produce in your local supermarkets?

I travel around the area on farmer’s market days seeing just how many are truly locally grown by local vendors markets. Sad reality is that most are not. I will not buy produce at a farmers market that has been brought in from somewhere else – not local. The reason is that the produce is not “fresh”. Most has been picked to early, and not ready for consumption (not ripe).

Many farmers markets attempt to give the consumer more choices by filling their booth spaces with who ever will pay the fees. I am not really one that looks for arts and crafts at markets either; they have their time and place.

The nuts and bolts of a good farmer’s market are the varieties of in season local produce. Markets need to be directed by a person knowledgeable and experienced in locally grown produce, not someone just off the street, or not educated in farmer’s markets. Add variety to it of organic produce, and you have a good market. By experience I mean someone who has been there and done that….a local producer. Knowledge in the field of agriculture is a plus.

Happy farmer’s market ventures to all!