Farmers’ markets cultivate buyer, seller relationships
DANIEL CLIFTON • PICAYUNE EDITOR
BURNET — Jana Ard keeps her bread selection as varied as you could imagine. No, you want find any traditional white or whole wheat bread, but you will discover varieties such as pear, peach, zucchini, pumpkin and even chocolate-chip-banana nut.
“That’s one of the must-haves,” Ard said. “That’s the one (people) come every Saturday and ask if we have any. And the blueberry is a good breakfast bread.”
Sometimes, she even has an Hawaiian oatmeal for folks shopping the Burnet Farmers’ Market each Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on the Burnet courthouse square. Ard and her husband, Larry, own and operate Floyd Farms in Bertram, where they grow produce but also make their quick breads.
“We’re known for our breads,” Ard said. “People are always asking about our breads. And that’s one of the great things about the farmers’ market for us. It puts us out in front of people. They get to know us and our items.”
Sure people grab up the more traditional breads such as zucchini and pumpkin, but they come back and try the others. Soon, they’re stopping by every Saturday morning for their quick breads (by the way, quick breads are those made without yeast.)
Up and down the west side of the square, shoppers check out the booths, including several offering locally grown fresh fruit and vegetables.
Mary Wood and her husband, Gary, grow a number of vegetables, including okra, in their garden. They also raise 200 hens for eggs.
“For people looking for locally grown produce, the farmers’ market gives them a place to buy them,” Mary Wood said. “For growers, it’s a place to move them.”
And the fruits and vegetables at the farmers’ market haven’t spent days in a truck or a shipping container before their placed in front of buyers.
“We started picking this okra at daylight,” Wood said referring to the produce fresh from her garden that day.
The Burnet Farmers’ Market, organized by the Highland Lakes Master Gardener Association, not only features vendors selling vegetables and fruits but also unique items. A few spots down from Wood, Petra Richards was crafting a dragonfly by winding yarn around a little winged body. But it’s not just any yarn.
Richards raises Nigora goats, small, dual-purpose animals that fit perfectly in a homestead farm. The breed is a cross between Angora goats (known for their wool) and dwarf Nigerian dairy goats, which supply milk. The animals handle the hot Texas summers quite well.
Richards uses the wool to make all sorts of items, including little “creatures” to clothing. She uses the milk to make numerous products, including several varieties of soap.
“Because it’s made from milk, it’s usually better for your skin,” she said.
How many people know about Nigora goats and the products Richards can make from their milk and fiber? Anybody shopping the Burnet Farmers’ Market does.
“Farmers markets are so important because they give small farmers a place to sell their things,” Richards said. “This is essential for us.”
Rayna Halliburton, who sells herbs at the booth next to Richards, agreed.
“For many people coming here, (the farmers’ market) is the only way they can get a variety of herbs like this unless they go into an Austin store,” Halliburton said. Plus, by shopping Halliburton’s booth, people can ask questions about the various herbs and their uses.
Which is another advantage of farmers’ markets: Customers and producers strike up beneficial relationships.
“I think people like talking with the person who grew the vegetables,” Wood said. “There’s a big social side to farmers’ markets.”
Ard agreed. She sees that side of it when some of the regulars shop her booth.
“That’s an important part of this,” she said. “People like learning about what you make and how you make it. It’s important to them. And I love talking with them about my bread and everything else we make and grow.”
The Burnet Farmers’ Market runs through the end of November. Go to www.burnetcountyhighlandlakesmastergardener.org to learn more.
daniel@thepicayune.com