VILLAGE OF FAYETTEVILLE – Fayetteville Farmers Market CNY returned with its bimonthly winter market on March 2. During this season, the source of locally grown foods plants itself inside the Shoppes at Towne Center entrance next to the L.L.Bean store on selected Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Last week the group of vendors from several different counties included Pied Piper Maple Products, which produces organic maple goodies from coated nuts and granola to flavored peanut brittle and other toppings. That stand also featured gift bottles and maple sugar shapes resembling shamrocks and pots of gold for St. Patrick’s Day.
“This is a great market because it’s medium-sized but we’ve got fantastic vendors and lots of good variety,” said Preble resident Barbara Hamlin, the woman in charge of the business’ farm on West Valley Road to the southwest side of Otisco Lake.
Hamlin has been involved with the market in both its indoor and outdoor configurations for close to a decade. She said she appreciates its air of positivity, its nutrition-conscious sellers, and its reasonable prices for families.
Dianne Gaudin, a purveyor of homemade jams and jellies, was at the market to highlight an assortment of flavors, from watermelon to strawberry pear to lemon blueberry. The Vernon Center resident said that a considerable portion of what she encases in her jars could be called “experimental concoctions” because she makes use of leftovers from her fridge.
This winter, Gaudin gave up her professional recruiting career with a New York City insurance company to focus instead on her personal business. She said she has since had more flexibility to spend time with her family and explore passions like selling her fruit spreads and getting them just right.
She said she has already had repeat customers at the Fayetteville market, including one woman who bought a jar of her hot pepper jelly and came back another week to order a case of a dozen more.
“I love coming up here,” Gaudin said. “It’s worth the 45-minute drive.”
Other businesses represented included Elly’s Acres Farm, which sells wool products out of Jamesville, and the Stone Brothers Farm & Greenhouse hailing from Canastota.
From early May to October, vendors assemble for the summer market in the parking lot of Towne Center every week from noon to 6 p.m.
The winter market goes on for a shorter amount of time on the days it occurs so that the vendors can drive home before dark. The next one takes place on March 16.
For more information, visit fayettevillefarmersmarketcny.com.