COLUMBUS – It wasn’t too long into Saturday morning’s Hitching Lot Farmers’ Market Krystal Staats made her first sale.
Her booth, Embers of Joy Clean Creative Fun, offered homemade play dough in an array of colors and sensory kits for children.
“(It’s) just an alternative for screens,” Staats said, “something that gets kids to use their imagination.”
Though the Columbus resident said she’s made the “Joy Dough” for the last few years – mixing and cooking it at home with natural ingredients – she was one of several first-time vendors at the Hitching Lot’s 2024 grand opening downtown.
“We’ve made them for friends, birthday gifts and things like that, but we’ve never branched out. We decided we’d try it this year,” Staats said. “We’re having fun. We’re figuring it out.”
So, too, was Ashley Mounger of HalleluYah Farms in Calhoun City. Her day started at 4 a.m. so she could be set up and ready to go when the Columbus market started at 7.
By a little after 8, she had sold out of squash. Customers were buying plenty of broccoli, kale, celery, red potatoes and herbs, as well.
“This morning’s been good,” Mounger said, smiling. “… Everything’s great except the starting time. 7 a.m. is an early start when you live an hour and 20 minutes away.”
Mounger’s farm has “made the market circuit” for seven years, she said, hitting her hometown, along with Eupora, Cleveland, West Point and Oxford. A little mutual Instagram stalking between her and Hitching Lot market coordinator Chelsea Best finally got Mounger to Columbus this year.
“We’ve been following on Instagram,” Mounger said. “We have a lot of produce, and we’ve been looking for somewhere else that seemed like a good niche and good market for us. … (Best has) been watching what we do on Instagram and was like, ‘Get your butts over here.’”
But if customers like the spring vegetables, Mounger said just wait until her farm’s specialty – heirloom tomatoes – comes in later this season. The True Black Brandywines are the real “gold” among their produce.
“Those are in a very special section where we can keep a close eye on them,” Mounger said, laughing. “You can go hold onto them in a storm if you want to. It’s not too far out in the yard.”
David and Elizabeth Paine’s Trinity Bottom Farm booth saw similar luck moving spring produce like cabbage and greens Saturday. They, too, will fill their booth with fresh tomatoes soon enough.
The couple from New Hope are veteran vendors at the Hitching Lot, selling there for six years or so.
David said it’s definitely worth it.
“We do good. We enjoy it. It’s a lot of work, though,” he said. “It’s a summertime thing that makes some extra money for us.”
Best, who has coordinated the market for three years, was pleased Saturday with a full house of vendors and steady foot traffic. Among the wealth of first-timers was Shady Acres Farm, the market’s first-ever meat vendor.
“I’ve reached out to probably three dozen meat vendors over the years,” Best said. “It just takes a lot of paperwork and time to be able to sell meat at a market like this. … I’m happy we have one.”
But Best also tries to bring more to the market experience than fresh produce and handmade goods. Saturday’s market included a pottery demonstration, a self-defense class for children and Columbus Fire and Rescue demonstrating how first responders extricate wreck victims trapped inside vehicles.
“We try to get a little bit of vendor participation mixed with local musicians and local programs,” she said.
The whole market experience keeps Emily Damm and Jacob Jordan coming back.
“We’re just farmers’ market people,” Damm said. “… It’s one of our favorite things to do. We’re excited it’s finally here.”
Damm had to wait on the fresh-cut flowers she usually buys since that vendor wasn’t there Saturday. The couple did score some steak and broccoli for dinner, though.
“I think it’s really nice that we can put money back into our own community and support local businesses.”
The Hitching Lot Farmers’ Market, operated as a partnership between the city and Main Street Columbus, will run from 7 to 10 a.m. each Saturday through October and from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through August.
“If today’s market is any indication, it will be a fabulous season,” Main Street Columbus Director Barbara Bigelow said Saturday.
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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