Opening day for the outdoor North Bay Farmer’s Market got off to a slow start before picking up as the day progressed.
Karen Adams was one of hundreds of customers to make their way through the market.
It didn’t take long for her to find what she was looking for, some tomato plants from local growers.
“I’m here mainly to start my little garden and I know it’s safe, it’s pesticide free and I really appreciate that. It’s a wonderful service.”
Wayne Chalmers of Spring Hill Farms had a successful first day.
“I had lots of produce this morning and it’s all gone pretty much. It’s been a great turnout,” said Chalmers.
Last year producers were up against an extremely wet spring, which pushed back any field planting. This year they face a different dilemma.
“This year it’s dry, but it’s cold. We had a long winter, so we’re about two weeks behind right now in the field crops. The soil is still cool so there’s certain crops that we can plant. Right now I’m putting in carrots and beets and radishes. They can handle the cold but some of the vine crops, cucumbers, zucchini things like that, will have to wait until June for it to warm up a bit. But it’s going to warm up, and we will catch up. The greenhouses are doing well. We’ve had great sun this spring, so things are booming there.”
Brenda Tota, from Midlothian Valley Farms, grows organic produce.
“Opening day is when we sell all our plants, our tomato plants, pepper plants. We specialize in fresh leafy greens. We don’t have much in terms of fresh produce yet because of the weather, but we will have more next week. What we don’t sell we dehydrate right away to sell.”
Market manager Stephanie Booth says vendors are offering a wide variety of products.
“We have from fresh produce to fresh food being prepared on site, meat, baking, jams and jellies, candles, gluten-free foods and all the arts and crafts as well.”
The market is nearly at capacity.
“This year we have 52 vendors, four are new. We’re almost at capacity now. I have two empty spots that we left spare this year so once we hit that mark, we have no more room to grow.”
The Wednesday market starts May 23rd beside the museum on Oak Street. It is a scaled-down version of the weekend market.
