Stephanie Lipsey, co-owner of Drover Hill Farm, Earlville, has spent the quiet season organizing a new farmers market, which will debut June 5 in the parking lot at Towne Center at Fayetteville, off Burdick Street.
“I had always thought this would be a good location for a market,” says Lipsey, who will serve as the market’s manager. “The opportunity came about and I ran with it.
“We are very excited,” she adds.
Vendors are excited, too. Applications are coming in, a website is in the works and a diverse weekly market is taking shape.
Lipsey is hoping for 25 regular vendors this year. The majority will come from within 40 or 50 miles of the market.
The Fayetteville Farmers Market will be a producer-only market, which means that vendors must sell food and/or food products that they have grown or made. Visitors can expect to find produce, mushrooms, pasture-raised bison, eggs, butter, cheeses, milk, flowers and plants, artisan breads and baked goods, honey and bee products, organic spices and extracts — and more.
So far, the list of vendors includes Empire Buffalo, Kriemhild Dairy Farms, Stone Family Farm, Szarek’s Greenhouses, Fruit of the Funghi, Rainforest Spice Company, Alambria Springs Farm and (of course) Drover Hill Farm, which specializes in pasture-raised beef, pork, lamb and chicken.
“My hope is to provide a good market for the farmers and a great variety of offerings for the consumers,” Lipsey says. “It’s stacking up wonderfully with the farmer offerings and the variety of local foods and food products.”
The Fayetteville Farmers Market will be held 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays at Towne Center (off Burdick Street). The market will open June 5 and continue through Oct. 30. For more information, call 750-9124, email [email protected] or visit www.Facebook.com/FayettevilleFarmersMarketCNY.