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Farmer’s Market offers sweet smell, taste of summer to Boone community |
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Tuesday, 12 June 2007 |
by David Anderson, Jr.
Contributing Writer
Saturdays offer a great time to catch up on sleep after a long week of work or school, especially during the summer months. But for many local farmers, photographers and other artisans, Saturday mornings take a very different form.
The Watauga County Farmers’ Market kicked off its 28th season May 5 at Horn in the West near downtown Boone.
The market opens early Saturday morning and the steady stream of bargain-hunters and window-shoppers usually lasts until noon.
Running
through the end of October, the market offers an easily accessible,
inexpensive venue for backyard growers and local co-op farms, but it
also provides an incredible cross-section of the vibrant, diverse
culture that helps define the High Country.
Strolling along the row of makeshift booths and pick-up trucks,
shoppers will find an array of local produce, fresh cut flowers,
hand-made pottery, classic forged metal-ware, jarred honey and spices,
family-recipe hot sauces, old fashioned soap and home-made candles.
The sounds of local bluegrass bands add the final touch to an
atmosphere that is bustling, crowded and noisy but perfectly serene all
at the same time.
“I love the Farmers’ Market,” said local photographer Rachael Salmon.
“Just the vibe and the people, along with the family you have here,
working side by side with a lot of cool people that have a lot of nice
talents, it’s really rewarding.”
The Farmers’ Market offers a unique opportunity to many aspiring artist
who, for various reasons, choose not to sell their works at traditional
galleries. Salmon hopes to use the market as a starting point,
eventually branching out and selling at other places.
“I’m really into being, not just a professional photographer, but one
who is out at other venues and living as a photographer, not just as my
second job.”
Established artists are also represented throughout the market. Caron
Baker Wike has been making pottery for more than twenty years. She has
two 2,000 square foot studios, sells her work at galleries in Linville
and in Lenoir and has been teaching pottery in Lenoir for the past
eight years.
“To me, pottery is a compulsion. I make more and more and more and more
and more,” says Wike, who spends up to 60 hours a week perfecting her
craft. “I had to have an art class for a business degree. Pottery was
available and I didn’t want to paint, and I’ve been doing it ever
since.”
Wike’s signature pieces are imprinted with designs from Victorian era
lace handed down by her great-great-grandmother. She also makes
personalized pottery from her customers’ lace, which is not harmed in
the process.
“I know there are things people like and I make those over and over
again. When I’m satisfied with the amount of stock that I have, then I
start to play,” Wike said. “The pieces up here are play pieces.”
Of course, the Farmers’ Market was originally established for farmers,
and despite the variety of venders present this year, produce stands
continue to make up nearly half of the market.
Maverick Farms, a sustainable agriculture project based in Valle
Crucis, has been a regular contributor to the market for the past four
years.
“Right now we’re definitely into the greens,” said Alyssa Rudolf, floor
manager for Maverick. “We’ve got salad mix and lettuce and spinach,
cilantro and other herbs, grazing mustard greens and pea shoots.
Pretty soon we’ll be getting the snap peas and the beets and other things a little more complicated.”
Maverick Farms, like many of the vendors at the market, sell their products locally throughout the year at other locations.
“We sell to restaurants and we have a community supported agriculture
program” Rudolf said. “We have 25 shares and they’re purchased up front
in the winter months. We have that money to buy seeds and then in
return our shareholders get a box of produce for 20 weeks during the
summer.”
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