Frontenac Farmer’s market up and running

Jul 08, 2020

It hasn’t been quick or easy, but the Frontenac Farmer’s market opened for the season last Saturday (July 4) at a new location, on the grounds of South Frontenac Rental Centre in Harrowsmith.

Erin Shannon, who makes soaps, balms and other environmentally friendly products in Yarker under the company name Erin’s Eco-adventure, has taken the role of market manager this year.

“We spent quite a bit of time trying to secure our usual site for the market, the parking lot at Prince Charles’ Public School in Verona, but with the school shutdown that proved impossible. Ryan [Harriman] from South Frontenac Rentals reached out to us and offered a location we could use on Hwy. 38 just south of Harrowsmith, and we took him up on it. Once we had a location, it was not too difficult to get the market going,” she said.

On their first day there were a few less vendors than last year, but Shannon said a number of others will be participating in the coming weeks.

“We had a really good response from the public last Saturday, from our regular customers who were happy to see us back, and new customers as well.

Among the vendors who were in attendance last week, were: Rise Farm, Mark’s Mushrooms, Brambleheights Farm, Blended Roots Farm, among others.

“It is so much easier for the vendors and the public to conduct business out of doors right now, and we have all the sanitization in place, one-way shopping, etc, because of the pandemic. People do not need to wear masks when they come to the market as long as they social distance,” said Shannon.

She expects the market will stay open until late October.