Farmer?s market offers farm fresh goods throughout summer
?Taste a little of the summer, taste a little of the summer — my grandma put it all in jars. The canned goods I buy at the store, just don?t have the summer in them anymore.?
Singer/songwriter Greg Brown described the essence of farm fresh goods better than any other in a song entitled ?Canned Goods.? This summer in Presque Isle County, numerous area farmers are growing their own farm fresh products and offering them at incredible prices to consumers during the weekly Farmer?s Markets held in Rogers City, Onaway, and Posen.
?OUR PURPOSE for the Farmer?s Market is to promote locally grown vegetables and foods,? said Nancy Snow, who with her husband, Duane, helps organize the yearly event. ?We all get to benefit from this (market), and it has definitely grown. We re-started the Rogers City market about five years ago, we started Onaway?s about three years ago, and now Posen is having a Farmer?s Market this year.? Duane said the Farmer?s Markets in Presque Isle County guarantees fresh produce and high quality to its consumers.
?One thing we stress is this is not a dumping ground for overripe or bad quality foods,? said Duane. ?We want to offer the best ? that is what this is about.? Nancy and Duane both grew up on farms in the Hillman area before eventually marrying and buying their own farm in Rogers City on Baker Road. They also are renting other property this year to farm as well.
?Our parents farmed ? they grew vegetables, canned their food ? we had dairy cattle, and about 580 acres of land,? said Duane. ?We bought the farm in Rogers City ? we started on sweet corn, and now, here we are. We?ve learned we can?t compete against big farmers, so we have to improve the land we have and grow what we can.?
THERESA SPLAN of Onaway keeps herself busy operating the Lock, Stock & Barrel Ranch on Glasier Road with her husband, Scott. Theresa specializes in canning fresh foods, making a fresh variety of salsas, tapping smooth maple syrup, and raising farm animals.
?Probably 90 percent of everything we produce is grown right here in Presque Isle County,? said Theresa. ?We tap the trees behind Stoney Links Golf Course for maple syrup, and that is about as local as you can get. We also sell chickens and hogs, we have fresh eggs, and I have a certified kitchen?that we are able to produce and sell other products from.?
Because Theresa and her husband did not grow up on farms, their choice to run a farm now was a ?surprise? to their families. ?We have been in Presque Isle County for about six years, and before that we were in Cheboygan County,? said Theresa. ?Neither of us grew up on a farm, so it really has been a learning process. I had the corporate job, but felt like I wanted more?so we bought the farm.?
Lock, Stock & Barrel Ranch is open to the public Thursday through Sunday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. It offers the ?farm experience? to any visitors, and a small store is available for people to browse and purchase farm fresh products. For more information, call (989) 733-9838.
CAROL AND Gerald Diederich have been farming steadily for the past three years, but have at least 15 years of farming experience under their belts. They now own a farm in Hawks on Darga Road.
?We grow everything ? peas, zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, and corn,? said Carol. ?What we sell depends on when everything starts coming in. Next week we?ll be swamped, but the only reason we have vegetables coming in is because we have a drip irrigation system ? you have to have water!?
Ron Krawczak has been participating in the Farmer?s Market for three years. He owns farming property on Heythaler Highway, but lives in Rogers City with his wife, Sandi. ?I took lessons from my mom (on gar
Lessons from mom worked out well for Ron, who just finished his first year of owning and operating White Pine Gardens next to the carwash in Rogers City. ?It was a good experience, and I?m not sorry I did that at all. We?ll be back next year,? said Ron.
Without an irrigation system, many area farmers are finding this year?s growing season to be quite dry. ?I water what I have to with a sprinkler, and I am working on maybe getting a (watering) system for next year if I can,? said Ron.
The Farmer?s Market in Rogers City (near the boat harbor) is open every Saturday from 8 a.m. until noon. Onaway?s market (behind Great Northern Drug) is open every Tuesday from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m., and Posen?s market (located across from Route 65) is open every Thursday from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.