Market offers sweeter cantaloupe variety, colorful heirloom tomatoes

For six years, the white tents at the corner of Parkway Drive and U.S. 11 always mark the sign of a new season: farmers market season.

Trussville Fresh Farmers Market, set to open April 30, now includes about 15 vendors, offering everything from traditional fruits and vegetables to free-range non-GMO pork, chicken, eggs, soap and more. 

The smell of fresh greens and dirt, the rainbow colors of produce and the relaxed atmosphere are just a few of the many reasons to support local farmers, market manager Wesley Gooch said. 

“Even the soap girl milks her own goats and grows her own herbs,” Gooch said. “And everything displayed there is usually picked that morning.” 

Everything sold at the market hails from nearby Blount, Chilton, St. Clair, Etowah and Jefferson counties, he said. This means nothing is shipped in and passed off as being a locally grown item. 

Knowing your dinner has made its way from a local garden to your table in less than 24 hours guarantees you’re getting the most out of it, Gooch said. 

“The older the veggies are, they start losing their nutritional value,” he said. 

The local market started in May 2010 and is one of about 180 in Alabama, Gooch said. The Farmers Market Authority for Alabama inspects the market and its vendors. It also provides marketing advice, ideas for diversifying the menu and regulates how meats are processed. 

This year, vendors will be selling a new, smaller cantaloupe that is sweeter than the traditional variety, as well as a lot of heirloom tomatoes, Gooch said.

Gooch is a Hewitt-Trussville High School graduate who retired five years ago after working in the railroad industry for 37 years. He said he became a grower himself when he retired. 

“I’m doing what I dreamed of doing,” he said.

Gooch inspects all the farms himself — monitoring the land the growers have and ensuring his vendors are growing exactly what they said they were planning to grow. 

He said his growers use pesticides only minimally, and they are more than willing to talk to customers about that, as well as why some produce may cost a bit more than their supermarket versions.

It’s an established relationship the growers have now, he said, and there is much loyalty among them.  

“We all help each other and teach each other,” Gooch said. “I haven’t seen any problems among the vendors.” 

He said he gets many requests yearly from outside growers. 

“I get so many of them wanting to sell at our market,” he said. “But we already have a group of diverse growers, and you want your growers to make a decent living. For instance, we only have one honey vendor. A good honey person can produce 200 to 300 pounds of honey, so once you get a good honey person, you better stick with them.”

For items purchased more frequently, Gooch has more growers, including three farmers who sell eggs from their homegrown chickens, and five vendors who grow and sell multiple varieties of lettuces including leaf, red butter and romaine. 

The loyalty extends to their customer base, too, Gooch said.

“What I like about it is how at least half of our customers can now call us by name,” he said. 

Freshness is important, as well as knowing where your produce is coming from. That keeps customers returning, Gooch said.

Trussville resident, natural food chef and certified holistic health care professional Jennifer Cole Conn is one vendor who has been with the market from the beginning. Conn owns Food Integrated Training, previously known as The Farmhouse. Her FIT company has merged with The Pantry by Stone Hollow Farmstead, where she also serves as wellness director. 

At Stone Hollow Farmstead in Harpersville, the company raises its own chickens and goats to produce artisan cheeses, jams and jellies, specialty foods, a skincare line and more. All of this is sold at its food outlet, The Pantry, in Crestline Village. Much of it is sold at the Trussville Farmers Market as well. 

“I think this market is everything to the community,” Conn said. “It’s people building relationships with the farmer. I’ve seen so many people over the years who know each other only because of the market.” 

She said she values children’s food education and said it’s a big reason why people should buy from farmers markets instead of supermarkets.  

“It’s teaching them that food doesn’t come from a can, a microwave or a drive-through,” Conn said. “It’s so important for kids to understand the growing process. Farmers market food is traceable food, and it’s such a good experience.”

Taste testing at the market can be fun, too, she said.

“Children are usually more responsive if someone else is giving food to them other than their parent,” Conn said. “It’s making memories related to food.” 

Gooch said he hopes in the future to have live music every Saturday. The Cahaba Lilies, a local bluegrass band, has performed during past markets.