Norris Farmers Market opens May 1
Clinton’s to start May 23
The Norris Farmers Market, shown here on opening day in 2023, will open next Wednesday for the 2024 season in front of Norris Middle SSchool. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
The Clinton FARM Market, meanwhile, will begin just over three weeks later, on Thursday, May 23, in Lakefront Park, according to its organizers.
As for the Norris market, coordinator Mindy Wells said the hours will be 3-6 p.m. every Wednesday during the growing season, until it begins to wind down in September.
Because the Norris operation is an open market and does not require registration, Wells said she doesn’t know how many vendors will be on hand to start, but she does believe most of last year’s participants will return, and that some vendors who have not participated in a while have said they will be returning for 2024.
“I’m excited; I’ve had several people reach out,” she said. “I expect it to be slim at the beginning, but to grow as this year’s produce rolls in. We always have crafts and baked goods early, and there may be some local greenhouse vegetables.
“The rule is that all vendors must create, make, or grow what they sell,” she said. “No reselling is allowed. This is a traditional farmers’ market. Crafts are always welcome as long as they are made by the vendors.
“But no multilevel marketing products are allowed, and this is not a flea market,” said Wells, who operates a farm in Norris that has blueberries and eggs. “It’s a very loose market, and it always starts out slowly.
“Our blueberries bloomed early this year,” she said. “They should be ready by late May or early June. We already have berries on them.”
“Unlike most of the others around the area, this is a free market,” Wells said. “There are no fees and no reserved spaces.”
“But the city doesn’t want anyone reselling anything,” she said. “It’s basically farm to consumer, with no middleman involved.”
In Clinton, the market moved from Commerce Street downtown to Lakefront Park, near the new Clinch River bridge off Charles G. Seivers Boulevard.
It will operate from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., “rain or shine,” said Kathy Mihalczo, president of the East Tennessee Farm Association for Retail Marketing, or FARM, which sponsors the market.
“We hope to build on the success we had last year in Lakefront Park,” she said. “Spring crops usually are available early, such as sweet and white potatoes, lettuce, chard, kale, beets and radishes.
“The association has more than 100 members; 75 of them are farmers,” Mihalczo said. “Besides the produce, our market also will have bakers, plant growers, gourmet food vendors, artisan crafts, honey, and cut flowers.
“We hope the community will come out and support the vendors,” she said. “We had great traffic last year and we love being part of the Clinton community. The SNAP-EBT food benefit program is available. People can use their benefit cards to get tokens to spend at the market.
“Everything is locally grown,” she added. “We inspect the farms to be sure.”
In Norris, the farmers’ market has been coordinated by Wells for the past several years. She hopes to have 10 to 15 vendors for opening day, and she said all of them will be from the local area.
“Our market has been much more focused on small farmers and backyard farmers,” she said. “People who grow blueberries in their back yards. People who have gardens, but just have too much produce, or have a couple of beehives, so they have some honey to sell. These are people who aren’t necessarily farmers, but they do have things to offer.”
“We’re still open to new vendors, and anyone interested can contact us through our Facebook page or call me directly,” Wells said.
“We’re not part of any of the farmers market associations.”