Carrboro farmers Market
Old-Fashioned Goodness with Modern Marketing
You can feel the energy the minute you set foot on the grounds that serve as the home of over 80 vendors at the Carrboro Farmers Market. All are local farmers – required by the market’s rules to live within 50 aerial miles of the town and to sell their own products. “You might be surprised, but we just expanded to a year-round market, offering goods from local growers and craftspeople from New Year’s to Christmas,” explains Sara Blacklin, the market manager.
Shopping at the market is a clear lifestyle choice for its customers. Unlike 24/7 supermarkets, the market is open on Saturday mornings and Wednesday afternoons in Carrboro and on Thursday afternoon in Chapel Hill. People appreciate the benefits of knowing who grows their food. Customers develop relationships with the farmers from whom they buy. Shoppers know that they are eating food that is grown locally and of high quality. And most farmers have a touch of the chef in them, recommending recipes and other foods to complement the products they sell. “We have a community that supports farmers 100 percent and a really unique collection of experienced growers who bring great fruits and vegetables to their tables,” says Blacklin.
For farmers, a presence at the market is both an opportunity and a challenge. The market is centrally located in the heart of downtown Carrboro, with plenty of foot and bicycle traffic and well-attended by customers and chefs who are known for their appreciation of locally raised foods. But farmers must also look for a niche – to offer varieties of produce and specialty products that are different from both their fellow vendors and the supermarkets in the community.
“Our farmers are creative,” comments Blacklin. “They expand what they grow and find unique products that haven’t already flooded the market. But the number one thing that sets farmers apart is their relationships with customers. Each product is automatically distinguished because the farmer has to be at market selling it.”
Local Jams, Jellies and Pickles
Amy Sugg and her husband, Ray, of Bonlee Grown Farm, have either grown the ingredients in their garden or bought what they need from other market farmers for her products. “My blackberry and blueberry jams are from fruit that is pesticide free,” says Sugg. “I use my own peppers for pepper jelly and pepper relish. And I grow my own okra and pickle it. ”
The Suggs started out selling flowers at their farm and garden center. She realized that she had a great market opportunity because most people do not make jams or pickle foods any more. “My mother didn’t do this, so I had to go back to my grandmother’s recipes and the recipes of a friend to learn how to make these things,” she observes.
Sugg says she is most gratified when customers see her specialty jams and pickles and tell her, “I used to make this, and I know how hard it is. ”
Like every other vendor, Sugg has her regular customers. “I hope you don’t mind if I take all you’ve got of this,” says one man, holding up the remaining supply of apple butter. “My wife loves it. ” He picks up two jars of jams to add to the apple butter. “We love your stuff,” he says, smiling as if he has just discovered gold.
Old Methods, New Flavors
April McGreger, of the Farmer’s Daughter, started selling at Carrboro on May 1, 2007. She brings a commitment to food activism and a lifetime of working with food to her fledgling business. “I began canning jams and jellies with my mother and grandmother when I was 10 years old,” she explains. “I have always been interested in fermented foods. ”
McGreger gained experience selecting foods at the farmers market when she worked as a chef at a local restaurant. She noticed that there were no preserved foods, such as pickles, relishes and chutneys, made with local ingredients. “I finally decided that if I wanted to see it at the farmers market, I would need to be the one to do it. ”
McGreger stays busy providing taste samples to the shoppers who stop by her booth. She patiently scoops a bit of chutney onto a piece of her homemade bread and hands it to a shopper, or spears a tasty-looking piece of pickle with a plastic fork. In nearly every case, a sampler becomes a customer.
“I moved here in 2001,” says McGreger, “and I think of this as my community. I want to preserve local foods and local traditions – and especially a small piece of southern food history. ”
“A Hobby Gone Astray”
Nancy Zeman, and her husband, Andy, had been making wine for 20 years when they decided to turn their pastime into a business. “It’s a hobby gone astray,” laughs Zeman.
The couple planted their first vineyard in 2002, and received their license and began crushing wine the next year. “We are crushing our sixth vintage this year,” she says, proudly. All of the wines available at the market are made with grapes grown at the Zeman’s farm, Benjamin Vineyards & Winery, located near Saxpahaw. The couple also purchases grapes from other North Carolina growers, most from the Piedmont region, to sell at their tasting room on site at the vineyard.
Zeman observes that North Carolina wines have yet to come into their own in a state that is increasingly supportive of locally grown foods. “People think a lot about local produce,” she comments, “and restaurants promote local produce and will list the name of the farm that supplies them, but then, they will serve wines from out of state, or out of the country. ”
Shoppers enjoy sampling her wines, and a tasting nearly always translates into a sale. “I’m kind of spoiled,” admitted one customer who stopped by the booth. “I’ve just come back from two cruises to Europe, and we had fabulous wines. ”
Zeman’s wines impressed her, though. “That’s very good,” she said, after tasting a white wine. “I’ll take a bottle of that. ”
On the Crest of a Wave
Eliza McLean, of Cane Creek Farm, offers naturally raised, antibiotic and hormone-free beef, pork and chicken to shoppers at the market. She is a one-woman show – figuring up prices, making cooking suggestions and discussing dinner menus with customers. “Now,” she counsels one regular, “you’re not going to want to cook this chicken the way you usually do for that recipe. It’ll turn to mush. ” From there, they discuss options for maximizing the flavor and texture of McLean’s tender, young birds.
McLean started selling meats three years ago at four different markets, including the one at Carrboro. She became a livestock producer 10 years ago, raising goats, and moved into pasture-raised pork five years ago. “People thought I had fallen from the sky,” says McLean, when she introduced retail pork sales at the market. “I love being on the crest of a wave, but I don’t necessarily think of myself as a pioneer. ”
McLean strives to keep ahead of the market by constantly searching for new products. “There is so much you can do with sausage, beef jerky and smoked things – even making dog food packs,” she says.
The testimonies from her customers tell the tale. “I just want to tell you,” says one woman who stopped to speak to McLean. “I bought a pork roast from you the other week, and my mother was not especially thrilled that I was fixing pork. But when she ate it, she said it was wonderful. It’s the most delicious pork we’ve had in a long time. ”
Pesticide-Free, Heirloom Variety Vegetables
It may be difficult to find the old Beefsteak and Better Boy tomatoes at supermarkets, but Charles Holeman has crates of them at his stand at the market. Holeman, and his wife Joan, have been bringing the bounty grown at their Flat River Nursery and Farm to Carrboro for 10 years.
“We have pesticide and fungicide free vegetables,” says Holeman, who raises much of his produce in a controlled greenhouse environment. “We use beneficial insects, and we overventilate to control the moisture. When we have to spray, we use products approved for organic production. ”
In addition to his tomatoes, Holeman grows cucumbers, peppers and eggplant. Flowers are another specialty, and Holeman’s large and colorful mums are impressive.
Like the other vendors at the market, Holeman provides very personalized service. A customer purchasing three tuberoses asked for part of the stem to be cut off. Holeman complied, and then wrapped the stems in a wet paper towel to keep the flowers moist until the customer got them home.
That little extra touch is part of what you might call more bang for the buck. Blacklin points out, “You get your squash, or whatever you are buying from the farmers here, but you get so much more.” That is what has contributed to the success of a “locally grown, nationally known” farmers market now celebrating its 30th year of operation.
Learn more about the Carrboro Farmers Market and its vendors at http://www.carrborofarmersmarket.com.
Annette Dunlap & Callie McAdams
