If memory serves, the opening day of the Presque Isle Farmers\u2019 Market in May of 2015 was cold, blustery and a freezing rain was falling. When the season opens this year on Saturday, May 14, vendors and shoppers alike will be hoping for sunshine, blue skies and balmy temperatures.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Customers are longing for fresh, local vegetables, meat and flowers and extras such as fresh eggs and delicious smelling locally roasted coffee.<\/p>\n
A group of last summer\u2019s customers was surveyed recently. What are you looking forward to when the market opens? \u201cI look forward to greeting neighbors and friends each week and sharing our thoughts as to the best buy of the day,\u201d Lois Griffiths said. \u201cI can\u2019t imagine a summer without the Farmers\u2019 Market.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alice Sheppard added, \u201cI like the Aroostook Centre Mall market because the food is tasty and has eye appeal. It is also fresh, healthy, grown in nutrient-rich soil, with typically few, if any, pesticides.\u201d<\/p>\n
Kim Sebold likes going to the Amish vendor, Joseph Zook. He brings in peaches in late summer like the ones she grew up with.<\/p>\n
Jim Brown and Kim Becker of Whole Earth Farm have a booth that Kim-Anne Perkins heads for. She says, \u201cThey are proud of their products and take time to tell me little aspects of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Summing up, Gail Roy said she looks forward to \u201cbeing able to shop outside on a sunny day!\u201d<\/p>\n
Do these shoppers have favorite items they are looking forward to? That question is hard to answer. Kim-Anne Perkins likes \u201cfresh eggs that are not all the same size or color!\u201d Lois Grifiths looks forward to \u201cthe little cherry\/grape tomatoes sold by Hidden Meadow Farms.\u201d Others mentioned \u201cthe cauliflower from Whole Earth that looks like a jewel.\u201d and \u201csurprise flowers each week from the \u2018Flower Lady,\u2019\u201d Barbara York, and of course the \u201cbig, ugly, exceptionally tasty tomatoes from Joseph Zook.\u201d For Kim Sebold it is the \u201chuge first strawberries from Goughan\u2019s\u201d or the sage cheese bread made by Katie Gingerich, the Amish baker. Everyone agreed that a season highlight was \u201cthe first corn of the season from Mark Goughan. He always throws in an extra ear for good measure.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Alice Sheppard probably said it best: \u201cI am sure I don\u2019t have a \u2018favorite.\u2019 I visit the tables in the order in which I judge they are most likely to sell out of what I want!\u201d<\/p>\n
Gail Maynard, of Orchard Hill Farm, president of the Presque Isle Farmers\u2019 Market, said recently that exciting changes are coming this season.<\/p>\n
The biggest change, explained Patti Crooks, general manager of the Aroostook Centre Mall, is the location. The market will be a hundred feet or so from the previous site. It will be in an indoor-outdoor location at the entrance to what used to be the Sears men\u2019s clothing retail space. There is electricity, proximity to bathrooms and an escape from bad weather. On the outside will be eye-catching hunter green and sunflower yellow columns and a colorful banner to announce the location. It is possible that there will be a \u201cmunchies\u201d food truck and picnic tables. Maybe a seafood truck will be there.<\/p>\n
For almost two decades the market has been in the Aroostook Centre Mall parking lot. It was originally located in Caribou. Finding the exactly right location there became a problem and the group moved to its present location. Natalia Bragg of Knot II Bragg Farm and Goughan Farms are the only founding members left. The Presque Isle Farmers\u2019 Market is an independent organization, governed by a set of officers, with its own bylaws. Vendors are all members with voting privileges and each pays an annual membership fee of $50. Products are all local or \u201cvalue added\u201d locally produced items.<\/p>\n
The market is frequently confused with the Riverside Public Market. The public market has been located in downtown Presque Isle since 2014. It is run by a committee of the city of Presque Isle, the Riverside Public Market Committee. Local products are sold there as well, including many handcrafted items.<\/p>\n
The vendors at the Farmers\u2019 Market look forward to market day. Replying to a survey, they all mentioned that the market is a place for them to show that there is a real face behind a product. Customers can ask questions, get recipes, learn growing tips, meet the farm family. \u201cFood at the market is \u2018in season\u2019 and successfully grown right here in the County,\u201d Anne Chase of Delphinium Farms said. \u201cI want customers to have a healthy, local affordable choice of vegetables and pork products that don\u2019t have to travel 3000 miles to get here,\u201d added Deena Parks of Chops Ahoy Farm.<\/p>\n
The same survey revealed a lot of market trivia. Did you know that Goughan Farms signs up 400 seniors for the Maine Senior Share program that gives out $50 worth of free fresh vegetables? Or that the most popular product sold by Natalia Bragg of Knot II Bragg Farm is an 1895 product \u201cOld Log Drivers Arthritic Formula?\u201d And would you have guessed that Hidden Meadows Farm workers planted 9000 onion seeds in February? There are four Ehst children working on the Hidden Meadows Farm in Bridgewater. There are three Goughan children plus one spouse, plus three grandchildren working on their farm in Caribou. Deena Parks covers her Asian greens with row covers to keep away the flea beetles, an organic solution to the problem.<\/p>\n
New to the market this summer will be asparagus from Phil and Jackie Doak and home-roasted coffee by the cup from Storibord owner, Ben Nason. Randel and Pam Argella, recent arrivals from Missouri, will be at a new booth, featuring an interesting collection of onion starts, as well as heirloom tomatoes and eggplants. Hopefully, Tim O\u2019Meara, 10, will be back selling his carrots and radishes.<\/p>\n
Customers can help the farmers in little ways. They can bring back containers; bring plastic shopping bags; have small bills and lots of change; tell your friends; spread the word. Lettuce and onions and peas will be waiting each Saturday from 9-1. The coffee will be brewing. The sun will be out!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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