Market in the Park Saturday
Published 9:04 pm Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Local farmers who would like to market their products locally are not too late to get involved in Saturday’s Market in the Park event in Atmore, according to Atmore Area Chamber of Commerce Director Sheryl Vickery.
“We still have spots open and there is no cost to come and be a part of it,” Vickery said of Saturday’s event, which will mark the second installment of the 2013 Market in the Park series. “We have about seven tents that are available on a first-come, first-serve basis and I think most of those are already taken, but anyone who wants to sell something can just pull up in their trucks and work right out of them. All we ask is that the products are grown locally.”
And Vickery said July’s Market event – born for the sole purpose of encouraging the purchases of locally-grown foods and other products – is on track to eclipse the success of last month’s event.
“We started late with Market this year because we had to delay May’s event,” Vickery said after a late harvest pushed the summer series back a month. “We didn’t have everything we usually have in June, but I think we will have a little bit of everything this time.”
A little bit of everything, Vickery said, includes fruits and vegetables of all kinds, as well as homemade breads, jams, jellies, fresh eggs and even products like vinegar from Perdido Vineyards.
“We have a lot of the same people from last time coming back and more,” Vickery said.
Also returning for July’s Market event will be Ken Kelley, an agent with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System. Kelley will be on hand answering any questions people may have about growing their own food.
“(Ken) won’t be doing a demonstration this time,” Vickery said. “He’ll be working more one-on-one with people answering questions about everything from testing soil to how to get rid of fire ants to whatever else they want to know. We’ve found that it’s just easier for people to get information that way, when they might not ask in a crowd during a demonstration.”
Also scheduled to be a part of Saturday’s event is the Atmore/PCI Animal Shelter, which will be selling baked goods as a fundraiser to support efforts to spay and neuter animals.
Vickery said Saturday’s event will run from 7:30 to 11 a.m. at First National Bank and Trust’s main branch on Nashville Avenue. Kelley will be available to guests from 9 until 11 a.m.