A group of area farmers plans to offer consumers the option of eating locally grown food this winter through a farmers market.
Each month, the farmers plan to set up a Trial Winter Farmers Market at The Herbal Alternative, 828 N. Ewing St., Seymour, according to a news release.
During the first market in November, farmers offered everything from popcorn, freshly ground flour, eggs, beef, fresh salad greens, pork and chicken to Christmas wreaths.
The next market is planned for 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.
The products to be offered at the winter market are a little different than at the regular-season market.
Tricia Bowers, for instance, sells fruit, vegetables, flour and beef during the regular market season, but during the winter, her family’s farm, Plumer-Bowers Farmstead, offers a different mix of items, including popcorn, freshly ground flour, eggs and beef.
“People want to eat good food from local farms all year,” said Bowers, who is helping lead the trial market. “And the best part is that farmers in our community can grow good food year-round.”
The purpose of the winter market is to determine the demand for a year-round farmers market in Seymour, Liz Brownlee said.
Brownlee and her husband, Nate, run Nightfall Farm in Crothersville and sell meat and eggs year-round.
“The farmers market committee works incredibly hard on the regular-season market,” she said of the Seymour Area Farmers Market. “We want to take on the risk of trying this idea out so that they don’t have to. If it works, we can approach the committee about adding an official winter market next year.”
Carrie Smith, the new chairwoman of the Seymour Area Farmers Market committee, is encouraged by the effort.
“We’re excited that our farmers are trying a winter market,” she said. “We want our community to be healthy and happy, and we know that access to good food is a key.”
Last year, customer support for the farmers market was high. The regular-season market drew in approximately 170 people per hour, or almost 700 customers, on a Saturday. More than 20 vendors regularly sold fresh local food from May to October.
“We’re committed to ensuring that our community has access to quality food,” Smith said. “We are eager to see how the winter trial market goes and to see how we can help in the future.”
That encouragement goes a long way as does the enthusiasm from the trial market’s host site, Brownlee said.
Krystal Harrell, who runs The Herbal Alternative and offered her store as a site for the Trial Winter Farmers Market, said she is excited to host the trial.
“It gives our community the opportunity to continue to be conscious consumers when it comes to our food supply,” she said. “We love that we have the opportunity to purchase fresh food from local farmers during the summer and wanted to see what we could do to extend that opportunity into the cold-weather months.”
The Herbal Alternative provides health products, from organic spices, chocolate and coffee to massages, essential oils and a health and weight management program.
“The farmers market and its participants and our store are on the same page when it comes to providing the community a choice when it comes to our health,” Harrell said. “Most times, that choice starts on our plates.”
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What: Trial Winter Farmers Market
When: 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Tuesday
Where: The Herbal Alternative, 828 N. Ewing St., Seymour
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