Gardener’s Market
Music floats among the shoppers at Pioneer Park as a child runs through the grass, poking his brother with a balloon sword. Warm bread is displayed on the tables, floral arrangements sit in the shade and a Japanese family is making fresh-squeezed lemonade.
At one end of the park, farmer Bryan Palmer from Wellsville arranges fresh flower bouquets, sold at $7 each. At the other end, Kristen and DeAnn Schmidt sell pineapple and peach salsa as people line up to try the unique flavors.
“Every week the Gardener’s Market gets bigger and bigger with more people and more varieties,” said Heather Wolfgram of Logan, who comes to the market almost every week. “Everyone has a smile, and the community can come to support the new shops.”
Each week, vendors and customers in the community gather at the park for a little sunshine and commerce. The Cache Valley Gardener’s Market is an open air market where fresh produce, handmade crafts and freshly made meals by local gardeners and artists can be purchased by the community. Every Saturday from May to October, tents and tables are set up before 9 a.m. for those in the community who want to share their talents and make money at the same time.
“We come every Saturday,” said shopper Melinda Ryan. “It’s a nice gathering, and there’s always something for somebody.”
Ryan’s friend, Janette Rasmussen, said the two of them go together and know the vendors and exactly what they want to buy.
“It’s just fun. There’s a lot of interesting people and you can just walk around and not feel rushed,” she said. “I’ve got to hand it to the people that come and set up every week. You begin to rely on them. If they go on vacation I get upset. I forget they have lives.”
As families and friends stroll through the park, they will see and smell homemade bread and pastries, all-natural beef jerky, honey, salsa and coffee. Women sell handcrafted cards, paper bag scrapbooks as well as skirts and dresses. One booth sells photography, another booth sells jewelry, and a few sell bath products, soap and lotion.
Lemonade made with fresh lemons, oranges and limes is what Kanako Arnold and her family specialize in at the market. A line of children and parents wait at the Arnold’s stand as their drinks are squeezed and shaken.
Arnold said this is the second year they have been involved; last year her family also sold pastries. She is able to order in the fruit from Royal Express, where she works most other days. She said her favorite part about the outdoor Saturday market is meeting and mingling with the community.
For Afua Daines from Millville, being a part of the Gardener’s Market means spending every Saturday morning with new people, who she describes as friendly and warm.
“For a moment I feel like I’m not in Cache Valley,” said Daines, who is originally from England. “There are so many different people and they talk to me all day.”
Nancy Eastmond, who teaches English Second Language at the English Language Center, said she often tells her foreign students to come out to the market so they can get fresh produce at a place that may be more similar to the markets from their countries than the grocery stores located in town.
Daines sells wooden plaques her husband makes himself. The plaques have symbols and words from Ghana carved in them that reflect human values such as integrity, family, determination and harmony.
Handmade crafts like Daines’ are popular among several shoppers who don’t necessarily come to the market for fresh produce. Heidi Lemon said several customers buy her handcrafted jewelry, which started out as a hobby while her husband was in school. Soon enough, she had made too many beaded necklaces, earrings and bracelets, and the market now allows her to sell the extras. She also makes cards and scrapbooks.
“I love meeting people, and it’s fun knowing someone likes what you do,” Lemon said.
Plenty of people like Palmer’s craft too, some coming to the market early so they can buy his bouquets with their favorite flowers. They can pick from buckets of sunflowers and zinnias and plants of all colors or let Palmer design them himself. All of the plants are grown by the Palmer family on 2 1/2 acres of land.
Nadine King said she’s been successful at selling her homemade bath salts and herb cookbooks. She had been to the market before as a customer and decided it was time for her to be involved.
“I love the atmosphere here,” she said. “It’s an outlet for my creativity, so it doesn’t just sit in a closet.”
From the scented salts to the mini fragrant pillows to the packaging, King said she creates it all herself. She said she gets to be artistic as she discovers different ways to display her salts, including glass jars with rose candles and mini baby bottles which can be used for shower favors.
“Everything in the market has to be made locally and created yourself,” she said, adding that she even buys her products at Majestic Mountain Sage, which is in the Cache Valley area.
The Schmidts, who pride themselves on their salsa, buy their fruits and vegetables locally and then experiment in the kitchen as they come up with new combinations. When peaches came into season this summer, they made sure to try them out and had containers filled with the salsa that made eating chips not so ordinary.
On an average week, they sell 150 containers of salsa, which means spending a lot of time slicing and dicing fruits and vegetables at home. It’s worth it though, they say, getting to know the people at the market and enjoying others’ arts and crafts.
A lot of people come to the market to simply enjoy the sunshine and walk around with family. Billy Edwards, who was visiting relatives in Logan from Austin, Texas, said she had never seen a gardener’s market so big. Since it’s too hot at home, she enjoyed being able to walk around in the breeze with a freshly squeezed watermelon limeade.
“I’ve been so impressed with Logan,” Edwards said. “We have a gardener’s market, but it doesn’t have so many nice crafts, food and flowers.”
Others come to see everything. Mac Dawson, who just moved with his family to Cache Valley from West Virginia about two months ago, had bags full of peaches, corn, tomatoes and salsa before they left the park.
“The prices are good,” he said as his daughter went to buy a bouquet of flowers. “We love the fresh produce and the organic nature of most of the food.”
Steve Bower, from Logan, said he comes each week as the “in-season” vegetables change so he can try them all.
“Depending on when they are selling them, I’ll buy peaches, tomatoes, corn or green beans,” he said. “(The market) has great food, great people, exceptional prices and the best of atmosphere.”
Located at 100 S. 200 East in Logan, the market is open 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturdays and Wednesdays from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Historic Courthouse, 199 N. Main.
-manette.n@aggiemail.usu.edu
A GARDENERS’ MARKET VENDOR prepares his selling area as the morning gets underway. Flowers, food, homemade crafts and soaps are just some of the items sold.
Gardeners’ market offers the community a chance to showcase creative talent.