Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Farmer's Market gets boost

The Nevada County

Farmers Market is about to get

a boost. Renewed interest in the

market has prompted an effort

to provide a permanent structure

to shelter those who want

to sell their produce. Other

changes include expanded

hours of operation and the formation

of a local 4H group to

encourage youth growers.

Nevada County Extension

Agent Melissa Beck said a

meeting of interested parties

last week drew some of the new

ideas.

The farmers market

encountered some problems last

summer when the Union Pacific

Railroad requested that the

farmers not set up their wares

for sale near the train tracks on

Highway 67. Farmers had been

at that location for several years

but the UP officials cited safety

concerns  that someone would

be looking at the produce rather

than checking for an oncoming

train, or that traffic at that site

could obscure vision. The spot

had become an accepted place for

the market and farmers began to

look for another location.

Near the depot was suggested

but there is no shade there and

farmers eventually began gathering

farther north on Highway 67.

The site currently being considered

is near the Sonic on the west

side of Highway 67.

Beck said that there were a

few young people who took

advantage of the market last year,

but that the goal is to expand that

interest for this growing season.

Rather than limiting the produce

and producers, the market is

going to expand so that growers

from outside Nevada County can

set up, and produce can be fruits

and vegetables, cut flowers,

plants, honey, eggs and more.

The expansion of the hours is

designed to help those farmers

who have produce ready on a particular

day. The market will now

be open Monday through

Saturday.

Beck said the time is right for

a farmers market to become an

important part of the community.

People are becoming more

conscious of food safety and

quality, she said.

With that awareness, consumers

are often anxious to buy

fresh fruits and vegetables. Beck

said the addition of fresh eggs and

other producet will draw a wider

range of shoppers.

In addition to the seasoned

professionals, theres to be an

increased effort to encourage

inexperienced farmers to join in.

Beck said the extension office

will help from the beginning of

the process, including soil samples,

to marketing. Nevada

County Consumer Sciences

Agent Amanda Rogers will teach

entrepreneur skills, teaching the

youngsters to track their expenses

and make their enterprise pay off

financially.

For more information about

the new 4H group, the farmers

market or to request help planning

garden plots or container

gardens, call Beck at 887-2818.