Saturday Mornings Downtown at Wooster Farmers' Market
by Katie L. Mortimer
June 12, 2012
609
The skies were blue overhead, the bright, hot sun shone down on the tents on the main square in downtown Wooster. People bustled around the many booths, chilling to the band playing.
Saturday morning, the Farmers Market was bustling with business and smiles. Local farmers and gardeners were in attendance, selling their organic goods. There were a variety of booths. Some sold herbs, some sold vegetables, some sold cupcakes, and others, flowers.
I dont grow fruits but theres people that have fruits throughout the season. I grow veggies. There are people that will have honey. And theres flowers. Tom Roelant, a local gardener, listed examples of the diversity of the products. Its not always edible things.
Steve and Lauree Ladrach were manning the Autumn Harvest Farm booth. They were relatives to Marcus and Beth, who had started the Farmers Market 15 years before. Theres a lot of variety, said Lauree, fresh stuff, a lot of organic stuff. A lot of healthy stuff.
Beth Ladrach came to the Main Street office and said that there were a few local growers who wanted to start a Farmers' Market. So, we started one with four local growers. Sandra Hull, the Executive Director of Main Street Wooster, reflected on how the Farmers Market had started. Now, opening day on June 2, we had about 25 local growers with product of fruits, vegetables, baked goods, honey, flowers, coffee, you name it, the market has it!
Mardelle Amstutz, known as the Flower Lady, and her husband Larry had attended the Farmers Market for 13 years. What they loved about it was the community atmosphere that residents and growers alike gave to the event. Its a wonderful social event. explained Mardelle, Theres great music, theres friendship between customers and booths. The kids love the dogs. And theres coffee shops all around us. People can come here leisurely.
You need to experience it to really get a sense of community. Roelant added, My first year I didnt have very many customers, I do now. Most of them I know by name. I wouldnt have met them at church, wouldnt have met them anyplace else I go. They come up and ask me when are green beans coming in?
The relationships between sellers and customers have always been special.
Deb Geiser was attending the Farmers Market for her sixth year. She spoke about how farmers and buyers help each other reduce their carbon footprints. I just think its really important for the local people to actually come and take the time to grow things. she explained, To produce a lot of different things out of their gardens, I think its good all around.
Beth Ciha and Karen Lewis had their first years as sellers last week, on June 2. They were amazed that they had only one cupcake left in three hours. We have so much respect for those that do this year after year. Ciha said, its a lot of hard work.
The Farmers Market has always had a steady crowd of followers. And a steady amount of vendors too.
The vendor base will grow to about 40 vendors by height of the growing season. Hull said about how the season develops over time, It is a wonderful market, loved by all those who make sure they come each week. It is a social experience and we welcome everyone to come and enjoy .
The Farmers Market is every Saturday morning on the Wooster square from 9 a.m. to noon.
