Looking for a different location to sell his flowers and produce, one farmer decided to start selling them on his own farm, and little by little more vendors joined him and it grew from there.

“This is the only farmers market that’s actually at a farm so when people come here they see the peacocks, they see chickens, the cows, you know. They have a farm visit here. So it’s . . .

kind of a neat spot to come,” said Ron Hodgins, owner of R&R farms.

On the patio of the farm, they usually have live poetry every week. On average about ten regular vendors are present and then others come every second week. This is the third year that Hodgins is hosting the market at his farm.

Inger Elliott has been selling her baked goods at farmer’s markets for 15 years. She bakes everything from pies to cakes, to cookies and is well known for her pies. “I like the feedback, and I like to make people happy,” said Elliott.

Selling pickled eggs, fresh produce and canned tomatoes, Robert Brisebois loves coming back to the farmers market because he enjoys meeting new people.

Another vendor, local beekeepers from Shawville, Ken Derouin and Heidi Hall run Fresh Water Honey. It is their second season at the market selling their local honey. They sell creamed honey, hot honey, and buckwheat, just some of the types in their product line.

“I knew somebody who was getting out of it and I thought, wow what a great opportunity to get into it. And he was wonderful. He mentored us all year long. And that was the beginning of this,” said Hall.

Derouin’s farm has been in his family for four generations now, and although they do not have any livestock as they both still have jobs, one day they plan to expand their operation and their product line.

Making fresh jam with berries straight from his farm, Glen Hartle explained that his jam is unique because he uses the berry haskap. As far as he knows he is the only one that grows this berry and incorporates it into his jam.

“Jam is a great way to make use of something and put it in the cupboard. And then I gave someone some jam, and they were like, this is kind of good. And then it just rolled from there,” he said.

For Hartle, it is about building community and sharing something he made rather than seeing it as a business. It is about belonging to something, he added.

“It feels awfully cool to be able to say you know what these hands cultivated all of this. It feels good to be able to offer it,” said Hartle.

The farmers market runs every Saturday from 8:30 a.m to 12 p.m. until Thanksgiving weekend.

Glen Hartle at his jam stand excited to be part of the community and serve it.

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