Vendors and Incentives
The Linton Farmers’ Market is about to get off to a great start! Please come out this Saturday for opening day and support your local farmers. The Linton Farmers’ Market is a 100% producer-only market, meaning that the vendors must grow or produce everything that they sell. Reselling of any item is strictly prohibited. So you can rest assured that you are receiving exceptionally fresh, high quality, local produce when you shop our market.
In addition to the great variety of produce and baked goods, there will also be t-shirts and reusable shopping bags for sale at the market. And this year we will be offering a punch card system, where all customers who visit the market six times will receive a free shopping bag and will also be entered into periodic drawings for LFM gift certificates.
Be sure to get your card punched this week after buying some delicious produce from our vendors, like Mrs. Martin’s Produce Patch and Wagler Family Farm. These and all our other vendors will offer a variety of home grown produce and friendly service. Mrs. Martin will hopefully have some strawberries, but the hail and heavy rain this spring has been hard on her plants. Philip Wagler will be returning again this year with an abundant variety of fresh produce, including tomatoes, asparagus, cucumbers, zucchini, rhubarb, flowers and free-range eggs from his family farm. All our vendors will be happy to sell you the best of their wares so please come out and support your local farmers’ market!
–Amy Lore, Linton Farmers’ Market Steering Committee
Vendor Preview
The ten-day countdown to fresh produce and handmade treats starts tomorrow! The Linton Farmers’ Market will have its’ second annual kick-off on May 31st, and we have a great line up of vendors ready to talk about their wares and send you home with the best of our region’s bounty.
There is still time to fill out an application and become a vendor yourself. Even after the market starts, if you think this is your year to debut your own handmade or locally grown items, get online at www.lintonfarmersmarket.com, or visit Linton’s City Hall for a vendor application.
Since we are all about eating local, buying local, and supporting local producers, we would like to introduce you to a few of our regular vendors. Be sure to visit and introduce yourself to…
Melon Acres
Melon Acres is a multi-generational family farm that offers a wide range of produce and has become one of our anchors at the Linton Farmers’ Market. Their friendly, knowledgeable staff will be on hand to talk to you about their time-honored traditions and their passion for quality fruits and veggies. You’ll find asparagus, cantaloupe, sweet corn, watermelon, and mini melon among their wares this year. melonacres.com
Glory Hill Farm
We are happy to welcome Glory Hill Farm to the Market this year. Glory Hill specializes in organically grown produce and will have a great variety of delicious choices for you. This is a great opportunity to try organics, and talk to the family about the value of their methods. If you arrive early, you might also find some of those gorgeous, deep yellow-yolked, free-range eggs we wrote about a few weeks ago. www.gloryhillfarm.com
The Daily Dish Café
If you’re not already familiar with The Daily Dish Café, then you need to make some time to spend your breakfast or lunch hour on Vincennes Street this week. The Daily Dish is a unique, local restaurant with a fantastic menu and daily specials. It’s the perfect spot for a casual meeting or a long lunch with friends. You won’t want to miss the picture-perfect pies and from-scratch treats at The Daily Dish Café booth.
–Amy Lore, Linton Farmers’ Market Steering Committee
Supporting Local Entrepeneurs
Ask any entrepreneur, there is something deeply satisfying about earning money by working hard.
As a teenager, I took several odd jobs over the summer, weeding gardens for a handful of elderly ladies who needed a little help. They paid me a few dollars an hour to pull up lemon balm run amok and restore flower beds and vegetable patches to their weed-less glory. It was hard work, but it made me stand taller knowing I had earned the money they paid me.
My handful of customers could easily have called up a professional landscaper and had all that work done in less time with less hassle, but instead, they chose to engage me – a local, small business. What a difference their faith in me made.
We each put our faith in our neighbors when we engage with local businesses. Whether we are having yard work done, buying gifts, or grocery shopping, each purchase we make is a vote of confidence in the people behind the business. Buying local sends an important message to the community that we value and appreciate the hard working people that make Linton unique.
We know we can find those people running their businesses all along Main Street, and up and down Highway 54, but that is not always the case when it comes to local food producers. Thankfully, our community has a tremendous resource for supporting local farmers and producers in our Farmers’ Market.
Starting May 31st, a variety of vendors will display the literal fruits of their labor. Each booth will offer something different, but they have a few important things in common. They are all hard working, small business owners, and a little support from you will go a long way. Let’s buy local and help them thrive!
–Amy Lore, Linton Farmers’ Market Steering Committee
Why I Love Local Food
A few weeks ago, a friend surprised me with a very valuable gift. I was ecstatic…over a dozen eggs.
She handed me twelve of the most beautiful, brownish, greenish, golden eggs I had ever seen. When I got them home, I immediately scrambled a few and enjoyed them on the spot.
I am a city girl and a grocery store shopper. I am used to pure white eggshells and lightly yellow yolks, so I was not prepared to see that these local egg yolks were sporting a deep, orangey color. They also had a richer flavor than anything I was used to tasting.
I realized that not all food is created equal.
We are blessed with an abundant food supply in America, thanks to a small army of farmers and producers who are working hard to protect our natural resources and provide everything from eggs and meat to fresh vegetables and even hardwoods and Christmas trees. Hoosier agriculture is a beautiful thing. Out here in rural Indiana, we have tremendous opportunities to support our local farms, where we have access to the freshest and tastiest food around.
No matter the method, organic or conventional, large-scale or small operations, one thing any producer will tell you is that fresh food is tasty food. And the closer it is to home, the fresher it is.
There are lots of reasons to love local food. I subscribe to a lot of them, but the one I will always go back to is flavor. Local food just tastes better.
This summer, the Linton Farmers’ Market is going to have a lot of delicious fare for you to sample. Not only will you have the chance to bring home a feast of local food to your family, you will also have the chance to talk to the people who produced it. They will be able to tell you exactly why those eggs you buy are so rich and their yolks are so orange and taste so good.
I dare you to visit the Farmers’ Market on May 31st and find out for yourself!
–Amy Lore, Linton Farmers’ Market Steering Committee
