Huron Expositor, 2007-08-22, Page 2Page 2 The Huron Expositor • August 22, 2007
News
Seaforth farmer's market off to a slow start
An average of four to five vendors come out Bch Thursday during Twilight Tunes
Susan Hundertmark
While Seaforth's Twilight
Tunes has been a huge success,
drawing as many as 300 people
from a 45 -mile radius to both
play and listen, the accompa-
nying farmer's market has had
a slower start.
It varies from week to week
but an average of four to five
vendors have been setting up
shop at Victoria Park this sum-
mer during Twilight Tunes,
says organizer Pete Klaver.
"We're in the building stage
but the bottom line is we'd like
to give local food producers a
place to sell their products,"
says Klaver.
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The vendors who've come
have not been limited to food
produ,Fers however, with the
Seaforth bakery selling hot
dogs, baked goods and drinks,
a local woodworker selling
crafts and furniture and some-
one selling cleaning products:
Grada Goud, of Clinton, was
selling berries, peaches and
apples from her fruit farm for
the second time last Thursday.
"It's a bit slow yet but people
don't know we're here yet.
People are looking for opportu-
nities to buy local food," she
says.
Goud also sells produce at
the Goderich and Mitchell
farmer's markets and is trying
out the Seaforth market in
hopes that along with selling
produce, she'll attract local
consumers to her Clinton -area
farm.
She adds she's seeing an
increased interest by cus-
tomers in the fact that
her produce is
grown nearby.
"A lot of people
appreciate that it's
grown locally and
we really appreci-
ate that they sup-
port us when the
prices are often
cheaper at the gro-
cery stores," she
says.
Goud says she'll
continue to sell at
the Seaforth
farmer's market
until the end of the
season, which could
,be anywhere from
the last week in
August to sometime
in September.
Cody Janmaat,
16, of Harpurhey,
was selling fresh
roasting chickens
at the farmer's
market last
Thursday but wasn't
getting any takers.
While he has sold 140 chick-
ens this summer by advertising
on cable TV, he is hoping he
could sell the remaining 50 at
the farmer's market.
"I've done this the last couple
of summers and people seem to
like homegrown chickens," he
says.
"This farmer's market sounds
like a good thing. It looks like
a good crowd," says Janmaat.
Carol Reinink, of Sunset
Springs greenhouses north of
Seaforth, says she attended
most of the summer's farmer's
markets in Seaforth.
"We've had a lot of lookers
but it's great to just get the
name out. I don't think a lot of
people know where we are and
this could help us get more
business at home," she says.
Reinink says she thinks a
farmer's market is good for
Seaforth.
"We need to start buying
more in our own communities,"
she says. "It's been a little hit
and miss so far but everything
has to have a starting point."
Reinink adds, "If you want to
meet your neighbour, this is a
good spot."
Wendy Wall, of Vanastra, has
been selling glassware and col-
lectibles at the Seaforth
farmer's market since the mid-
dle of July.
"It's been slow but
I don't think I've fig-
ured out what peo-
ple want yet," she
says.
Wall has been a
vendor at the
Bayfield farmer's
market for the past
four years and says
she does it to afford
her addiction to
auctions .where she
buys all of her
wares.
Wall' says she's
enjoying meeting
people and listening
to the old time fid-
dle music Thursday
nights.
"I don't know how
anyone couldn't love
coming here and lis-
tening to the music.
The art of conversa-
tion is dying and we
all need more of
this. It's better than
sitting in front of a TV
or computer screen. Go out -
people will talk to you," she
says.
Organizer Bob Fisher says
the market will continue for as
long as the good weather holds
out and the musicians want to
continue.
He says after the success of
this year, Twilight Tunes and
the market are already being
planned again for next sum-
mer.
`We're in the
building
stage but the
bottom line
is we'd like to
give local
food
producers a
place to sell
their
products,' --
Organizer Pete
Klaver