Jackson farmers market adds to area offerings

Cape Girardeau County residents now have another farmers market to choose from. The Jackson Farmers Market debuted Tuesday in the courthouse parking lot.

For only the opening day, the M&J Mobile Shredding tractor-trailer was present to shred customers' sensitive residential documents for free. The shredder's appearance came from a suggestion by Mayor Barb Lohr to Marco Otten, a member of the Jackson Community Outreach Board, which sponsors the market, and an employee at Missouri Plastics and Recycling.

"We do business with them," Otten said. "We buy their shredded paper and recycle it. Coming here gives them a little exposure."

While there are three markets in the area, the availability of fresh produce at each will vary, depending on the weather and what's in season. Produce in Jackson on Tuesday included lettuce, tomato plants and radishes. Other items were soaps, dried flower arrangements, dumplings and pottery.

The Rev. Grant Gillard, a beekeeper, sold honey that originated in Oak Ridge and in Teen Challenge fields.

"The Oak Ridge honey is light and delicate," Gillard said. "At Teen Challenge, where there's a plethora of strawberry blossoms, people believe it tastes like strawberries."

Instead of looking for honey, Joanna Grey of Jackson was shopping for ingredients for shish kebabs. The selection of onions was limited and no green peppers were for sale, but Grey wasn't disappointed.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Jim Shannon helped a customer at the Bill Bass Farms stand select a carton of strawberries Thursday at the Cape Girardeau Farmers Market.

"I just like coming out and seeing what people are selling," she said.

Marilyn Peters, president of the Cape Girardeau Farmers Market, and her husband, the market's manager, are vendors at three markets, including a Carbondale, Ill., market and now the Jackson Farmers Market. She was pleased with the Jackson market sales and the general atmosphere with little pressure.

Chefs from downtown Cape Girardeau restaurants including Celebrations and Molly's shop at the Cape Girardeau Farmers Market and can be identified by their white jackets with nametags from time to time. "One chef comes looking for okra in a very small size," Peters said. "He's very particular."

"But I think the main thing people are after are things that come from traditional gardens of their youth like green beans, peaches, apples, tomatoes," Peters said. "Tomatoes are really big. When they're in season, it's a good market for two or three weeks."

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Gina Jansen looked at lettuce from Janzow Farms with her mother, Geraldine Cook, at the Jackson Farmers Market on Tuesday.

People were divided on how rising food costs at the grocery store is affecting farmers markets. Lohr said that compared to grocery store prices, shoppers at the farmers markets are getting about a 20 percent discount on produce.

However, Show-Me Fresh Farms owner Octavia Scharenborg, who is also the manager of the Alternative Farmers Market, thinks people mistakenly believe farmers market prices will reflect grocery store increases.

"I haven't raised my prices in a year," she said. "I will take it off the bottom line. As far as I know, our vendors haven't increased anything, and if they did it isn't very much."

The Alternative Farmers Market, which has been open since April, sells herbs, vegetable, beef, pork and eggs.

AARON EISENHAUER ~ aeisenhauer@semissourian.com Grant Gillard sold a variety of locally produced honey at the Jackson Farmers Market on Tuesday.

The advantage at shopping at farmers markets is knowing produce is fresh and local, said outreach board member Charla Myers. "You don't know how long its been piled, stored or picked green and ripened later at a grocery store," she said.

Julie Janzow, a vendor specializing in organic produce and grass-fed meats said it was her first experience selling at a market. Janzow Farms operates under community-supported agriculture. "We have 27 families that we supply first. Whatever I have left I'll bring to the Jackson market," she said.

Brown free-range eggs and radishes were sold out after an hour Tuesday.

The next market will be held from 5 to 7:30 p.m. June 17. Some uptown Jackson merchants will keep stores open late during market hours and offer discounts.

cpagano@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 133

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Want to go?

What: Alternative Farmers Market

When: 8 a.m. to noon Wednesdays until Aug. 27

Where: 4-H shelter in Arena Park

What: Jackson Farmers Market

When: 5 to 7:30 p.m., the first and third Tuesdays monthly until Oct. 21

Where: Barton Street, Jackson

What: Cape Girardeau Farmers Market

When: 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Thursdays until the end of October

Where: 2001 Independence St., Cape Girardeau at the Plaza Galleria shopping center parking lot