Farmers Market offering fresh produce and more
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Each Saturday an array of fresh, local vegetables are available for purchase at the Elkins Farmers Market, such as corn, tomatoes, carrots, onions, peppers and green beans.
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Food products aren't the only items shoppers can purchase at the Elkins Farmers Market. Each Saturday the market hosts many vendors that sell hand made art, crafts, and woven items.
ELKINS -- Peak season for local produce has arrived and the Elkins Farmers Market continues to be a popular Saturday morning spot for local residents searching for fresh fruits and vegetables.
The Farmers Market is currently located behind the Elkins Train Depot in Town Square. Its Saturday hours of operation are from 8 a.m. until noon.
"The market has been doing well since we opened for business back in May," Elkins Farmers Market President Nicole Spencer told The Inter-Mountain this week."
We have a lot of new vendors this year that we haven't had in the past. One of them is Highland Fungi, which has been selling all different types of mushrooms at the market. Besides all the different mushrooms they have, they also sell blocks for people wanting to grow – it's been a big hit with our customers.''
Spencer herself is selling a new item at the market this summer – medicinal plants that grow wild in West Virginia.
"I've gotten a lot of raves from the elderly with chronic pain issues who have purchased some of the plants that grow wild," Spencer said. "I have medicine to be used as a painkiller, for anxiety, and other things as well.
"We are kind of looking for an alternative to Big Pharma and California foods. We'd like to be able to support ourselves as a community and acquire what we need here, especially with all these shortages."
Due to a severe drought in the spring, crops are running about two weeks behind what they normally do, Spencer said. She said things will begin to boom in the next two to three weeks, however.
"I have over 250 tomato plants that are just loaded down with tomatoes right now. All of those will be ready in the next two to three weeks," said Spencer. "Corn, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce and other things like that are about ready to go also. We have some of those items right now, but in a couple weeks there's going to be a lot of them."
Spencer said farmers markets are important to communities, not only because they provide fresh local produce, but because they cater to many people who are unable to grow items themselves.
"We get a lot of elderly people because they can't grow gardens anymore," Spencer said. "Sometimes we have a hard time finding producers who grow enough to sell in excess, because a lot of them are keeping what they grow for themselves. But we did have two sides of the square completely full two weeks ago, which we were really happy about."
Spencer said the vendor list has been growing more and more each week this summer, and that the market has grown immensely since it opened at the Railroad Depot two years ago.
Some of the produce sold at the market is grown by Spencer herself, as she owns a 20-acre farm on Georgetown Road. Many of the items she grows, such as apples, blueberries, chestnuts, walnuts, corn, tomatoes, carrots, onions, peppers, squash and zucchini, are featured at the market, not only by Spencer, but by other vendors as well.
Canned goods, breads, pies, fudge, handmade art, crafts, buckwheat flour, pottery, spices, woven items and much more can also be found at the Farmers Market. One vendor has been selling pork products and taking orders for half and whole hogs.
The market has also had a community tent set up this summer for non-profits and other organizations in the area looking to raise awareness of a variety of different topics.
"The community tent is free for nonprofits to promote what they are doing," Spencer said. "We supply the tent, tables, chairs and everything else they may need. We've had several different groups come out and set up this year, including a pollinator club and then Meals-on-Wheels. We have had several organizations come out to promote what they are doing, and to try and get more volunteers."
The New Tygart Flyer, the tourist train that runs out of the Elkins Depot, draws a large number of visitors during the months the market is open. It departs at 11 a.m. while the market is open Saturdays.
For more information about the Farmers Market, visit its Facebook site or call 681-298-8510.