Eureka Springs Farmers Market manager, Pauline Rescorl bags some fresh green beans this morning at her farm stand Seven Mornings Farm. She's been a Eureka Springs Farmers Market vendor for three years.
"We are located just outside of Marble, Arkansas," Rescorl said. "We have 78 acres, and we grow fruits and vegetables, and we raise chicken and duck eggs, and also we do garden transplants."
The Eureka Springs Farmers Market is located at 44 Kingshighway on the front lawn of the Eureka Springs Community Center. The outdoor market occurs year round, in summer on Thursdays from 8 a.m to 1 p.m., and in winter from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
"Eureka's a unique community," Rescorl said. "We have an interesting cross section of dedicated locals and a lot of tourists, so I feel like that's kind of the differing point for us. It's not as large a community like your bigger markets like Rogers or Bentonville or Fayetteville, for example. But we really do have a great group of folks."
On Thursday August 8, the market celebrated a 20th anniversary coinciding with National Farmers Market Week. Two dozen vendors this morning are selling seasonal produce, plants and flowers, baked goods, handcrafted soaps, chocolates, candles, and drums.
Gross sales last year totaled more than $136,000. Market members pay annual fees and percentage of sales.
Eureka Springs market board president Katie Wood operates Shady Grove Farm Bakery between Eureka and Berryville, near the Kings River. She's just about sold out, and it's only mid-morning.
"I sell French pastries, so croissants, pain au chocolat and Danish scones," Wood said, "almond croissants, blueberry and lemon Danish, there's monkey bread, which are croissants rolled in cinnamon and sugar. And there's one sticky bun left."
Wood said the market has a food affordability matching program for enrolled participants in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program or SNAP, the Woman Infants & Children program known as WIC, and the Arkansas Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program. Supplemental funding for shoppers at this market is provided through matching partnerships with the Arkansas Coalition for Obesity Prevention, the University of Arkansas for Medical Science Institute for Community Health Innovation, and Just Bee Coffee Bar.
"It's amazing," Wood said, "because right now the Farmers Market can double SNAP dollars. They can double senior vouchers and WIC vouchers and so it means if you want to spend $20 dollars, you'll run your Electronic Benefits Transfer card, and you'll get $20 in tokens and additional tokens worth $20 dollars."
Lisa McClelland, seated at an Area Agency on Aging in Northwest Arkansas table, was on hand, offering guidance.
"We're here today to sign up seniors for the vouchers so that they can purchase fresh fruits and vegetables and honey. We offer coupons for $50 they can spend."
Katie Wood said all vendors selling at the Eureka Springs Farmers Market are screened for quality control.
"We are one of the best small farmers markets in the state," she said. "I mean we have at least 26 vendors normally, sometimes more. We've been open since 2004. We've been here for 20 years now. We've been a central part of this community for so long and I think, you know, that people can count on us to always have fresh food and beautiful baked goods and we're just you know a pillar of the community."
Eureka Market Farmer Ashley Hill specializes in culinary and medicinal mushrooms. He says this market was the first to accept him.
"I'm owner of Omnom Mushroom Farm. We grow organic mushrooms, we sell fresh mushrooms, mushroom jerky, mushroom pickles, mushroom tinctures, and mushroom powders."
Hill says he especially enjoys the market's comradery.
"I grew up in Eureka, so it's my hometown," he said. "I have some land here. I started the business in 2016 and this was one of the first places that we found where we can sell mushrooms. It's just great being with people, and being around people, and seeing people every week, and yeah, spreading good medicine."
Nationally noted lesbian poet and editor, Mary Meriam is a legacy customer and fan of Eureka Springs Farmers Market.
"The farmers' fruits and vegetables have been feeding my poems for all these 20 years," Meriam said, grinning.
Madeleine Schwerin and her spouse Andrew own Sycamore Bend Farm, south of Eureka, selling sustainably grown organic produce at this market since 2010.
"Today we've got tomatoes, collards, kale, cucumbers, okra, some purple hull peas, and rhubarb, hot peppers, potatoes, eggplant, and lots of sweet potatoes," she said, as shoppers line up.
Jason Keys is proprietor of Sylvan Artisan Bread, a family-run bakery located in Jasper in Newton County.
"We have eight different flavors of organic wood fired sourdough, organic English muffins, sourdough English muffins, and organic granola," he said, offering samples to patrons who stroll by. Eureka Springs Farmer Market is a lucrative place to sell baked goods, he said.
"Absolutely, yeah, we've been doing this market for, let's see, I think six years now, and it's been a great market, it grows every year."
More than 50 farmers markets operate across Arkansas, with a half dozen in northwest Arkansas, including two more in Carroll County -- a neighborhood Saturday market on White Street in Eureka and a farmers market in Berryville.
Self-described folky blues slide guitarist Jerry Jones sings for farmers and patrons, including Eureka Springs Mayor Butch Berry who strolls by.
"I think it's something the whole community looks forward to every week," Berry said.
Mayor Berry is here this morning to issue a formal proclamation to commemorate the market's 20th anniversary.
"Eureka Springs Farmers Market is such an important event for the whole community," he said, "because of the sustainability and the farmers and the craftsmen that we have around here to provide local products for local people."
Berry, a Eureka Springs native, said when he was kid farmers sold produce downtown next to city hall. Today, that parking lot is packed with tourist vehicles.
"My grandmother would come down and we would get local vegetables and fruits from the vendors selling out of the back of their trucks," he said. "They didn't have tents in those days. They would come every Saturday mornings. We used to be able to get your blueberries, blueberry pies and jams, those are my favorite, and your homegrown tomatoes. That's hard to find, y' know."
But that's changing now, with more rural and urban farmers markets across the country contributing to a revival, according to the National Farmers Market Coalition which works to preserve farmland and farm families.
The mission of the coalition is to promote farmers markets to facilitate personal connections and bonds of mutual benefits among farmers, patrons, and communities. By cutting out middlemen, farmers receive more food dollars and patrons receive the freshest and most flavorful locally grown food.
Ozarks at Large transcripts are created on a deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. The authoritative record of KUAF programming is the audio record.
Support KUAF and Keep Public Radio Thriving
For more than 50 years, KUAF has been your source for reliable news, enriching music and community connection. Your support allows us to bring you trustworthy journalism through programs like Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Ozarks at Large. As we build for the next 50 years, we need your support for KUAF to ensure we continue to provide the news, music, and connections you value. Your support is not just appreciated; it's essential. Make your gift today here.
Thank you for supporting KUAF!
