The Independence Farmers Market features several special events on Fridays in July. All events are free and open to the public and occur during the entire Market from 9am to 1pm at our temporary location on Courthouse Street, the Gate Center parking lot, and occasionally on the lawn of the 1908 Courthouse.
Andrea Wann is back on July 15 with Healthy Kids Bucks sponsored by Molina Healthcare. The first 25 kids to the Market will receive $10 of Healthy Kids Bucks to spend on fresh fruits and vegetables and eggs.
The 8th Annual Berry Festival is July 22. Steve Mabe, aka Sweet potato or watermelon man depending on the season, suggested we add an event celebrating berries way back in 2014. The Berry Festival is one of our largest fundraisers and features a berry pie contest and a berry sorbet fundraiser. This year, sorbet will be available by the bowl or frozen pint. Don’t forget to bring a cooler! River Ridge Organics has co-sponsored the Berry Festival for several years and donates the berries for the Sorbet fundraiser. They are our only USDA certified grower. Their berry farm is near Mouth of Wilson. You can find their berries on our On-line Farmers Market or go out to the farm on Saturdays and pick your own berries. Contact Amy at [email protected] or visit the webpage www.riverridge.farm for more details.
Everyone is invited to enter the Berry Pie contest. Pies are limited to crust, and simple berry filling. The winning entry will receive $100, second place $30 and $20 for third place. Please bring your pies to the Market by 10:00. Judging will begin at 10:30 am. Remaining pies will be sold by the slice to benefit the Market. This year the contest is sponsored by Heartmoss Pottery located in Elk Creek. Hannah Martin was one of our earliest vendors at the Market and we are thrilled to see her business take off. The annual Open Studio and “seconds” sale will be the same day as the new Ag and Art Adventure on September 10th.
July ends with Take a Break from the Interstate Highway 21-yard sale on the 29th. Vendors will be offering yard sale items in addition to fresh local food and artisan crafts.