Farmers' Market makes marvelous debut
Patrons of the first Cranbrook Farmers' Market trade cash for crops on Saturday.
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Updated: July 08, 2009 11:08 AM
Americans celebrated their independence on July 4th and the Cranbrook Farmers’ Market did the same on a smaller scale.
July 4th marked the grand opening of the Cranbrook Farmers’ Market, which opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony and a watermelon squashing by Mayor Scott Manjak.
“The turnout was excellent,” said Tara McKee, president of the Farmers’ Market Society. “Everything was terrific. Both vendor and patron turnout was great - better than expected.”
The Farmers’ Market will be held every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m, running July through September and is located downtown on 10th Avenue beside Rotary Park.
There was plenty of food available at the Farmers’ Market on Saturday.
Fort Steele Heritage Town put on a pancake breakfast in the morning and traditional fare, such as barbecued hamburgers, hot dogs and smokies, were presented by Rick’s Fine Meats for patrons. Biltong Canada was also on location and presented Boerewors Farmers’ Sausage on a bun. Home baked goods were available from Home Sweet Home Treats, Kootenay JAK Baking Co. and Fort Steele Heritage Town.
Although not abundant, farm fresh produce was available from both Fort Steele Farms and Garden Hoe Farms.
Other local produce vendors, such as Grassroots Agriculture and Food Forest out of Bull River, will be offering fresh produce in the future.
“It’s early in the season; it’s been a late-growing season,” said McKee. “We are working on getting more produce vendors including some from Creston.”
She noted that there were 26 vendors in total on the first day. McKee stated that they are always looking for new vendors and are also hoping to attract local fundraising groups to provide hot breakfast or lunch for patrons.
“We’re all volunteers. It’s been a huge learning curve,” she said. “We weren’t sure of the volume of people. It was somewhat overwhelming but wonderful.”
But the Farmers’ Market isn’t all about food, as Spirit Square was rocking with several acts on stage. The music kicked off with Wee Two, Sarah Mariott and Beth Crawley, followed by Joel Purdy and the Evergreens and finished with Van Redecopp, Shawna Plant, and Shelagh Gunn, and an encore performance from Wee Two.
Aside from all the food, there was also hand-made jewellery, dolls and more.
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