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Local farmers markets start this week

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Kymar Acres will be one of the vendors featured at the Marquette farmers market at the Driftless Area Wetlands Centre. (NIT file photo)

By Audrey Posten, North Iowa Times Editor

Flowers aren’t the only things blooming in the area. Weekly farmers markets in both Marquette and Monona are set to burst forth with a variety of homegrown and homemade items.

Monona’s farmers market will begin Wednesday, May 24, in the shelter at Gateway Park. It will continue each Wednesday, from 3 to 6 p.m., until Oct. 4. Everything from produce, plants and jams to baked goods, wood crafts and homemade jewelry will be available, said organizer Sonya Stagman. 

“We will have more produce later on in the season,” she added.

The Marquette farmers market at the Driftless Area Wetlands Centre will get underway Friday, May 26, and continue each Friday, from 4 to 7 p.m., through mid-October. Sponsored by Central State Bank this year, the market will have baked goods; fresh cheese curds; locally-produced beef, pork and lamb products; fresh produce; wine; honey; jams and jellies; eggs; black walnuts; maple syrup; granola; locally-grown plants and items from local artisans.

The farmers market will feature 10 regular vendors, which is more than in the past, noted Wetlands Centre Director Alicia Mullarkey. Those featured include Our Farm Meats, Kymar Acres, Busy Bee’s, Robert Jelinek, Homestead Dairy, Stagman Yard Ornaments, Highlandville Honey Farm, Elsinger Family Farms, BuckingLamb Palace, Jennings Winery and Cheryl Corlett.

This year, there are four new vendors, bringing some favorite farmers market items.

“In year’s past, we’ve had honey and wine,” Mullarkey said, “so that’s coming back. We’ll be able to offer a few more things.”

Special educational programming will be held at the market on specific dates. Each week, the documentary film “Mysteries of the Driftless” will also be shown.

“We have tourists coming through, so it’s a good way to highlight the area and bring people to the market,” Mullarkey shared.

Patronizing local farmers markets has benefits for both consumers and communities.

They’re convenient, said Stagman, who noted that Gateway Park—with its ample parking—is a good location for Monona’s market.

“We have a lot of people stopping on their way home from work,” Mullarkey said of the market in Marquette.

Vendors take customers’ tastes into account when selecting items to sell at the market. For example, in Monona, said Stagman, visitors can suggest the types of baked goods—muffins, breads, pies, cookies and more—they’d like to see.

Mullarkey agreed, stating, “Vendors can really customize things for what people want.”

It’s also reassuring, she said, for people to know where their food comes from and learn about the producers’ operations.

Plus, quipped Stagman, “It’s better to have produce right from the garden. We don’t use any chemicals.”

In addition, farmers markets make communities more vibrant, noted Stagman and Mullarkey.

“It helps support the town,” Stagman shared.

“It keeps money local,” Mullarkey added, “which is great for the community.”

If you’d like to become a vendor at the Monona farmers market, contact Stagman at (563) 536-2371. To become a vendor at the farmers market in Marquette, contact the Wetlands Centre at (563) 873-3537 or drifttlessareawetlandcentreia@gmail.com.

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