Vendors came from as far as Oakland, CA to bring fresh, sweet blackberries, strawberries, cherries and blueberries. Samples were available at the latest Mesquite Farmer’s Market. All this vendor’s fruit was grown with no pesticides. Photo by Teri Nehrenz
With temperatures still topping the 100 degree mark in the early evening hours the Mesquite Friday Night Farmer’s Market held July 9 didn’t yield a lot of visitors but there were enough to keep a few of the vendors with more in demand items hopping.
Fresh, crisp and colorful bins of produce lined the sidewalk outside the shops during July 9 Farmer’s Market. It was a hot afternoon but that didn’t stop vegetables from flying off the tables as shoppers picked their way through fresh peppers, cabbage, carrots, corn, squash, onions and a variety of fruit. Photo by Teri Nehrenz
One of the more popular booths was filled with fresh, ripe berries and cherries all the way from Oakland, CA. Cherries were available in white or red and the blackberries were as big as the top of your thumb. All of the produce brought in from Oakland Farms is grown without the use of pesticides and they use fresh manure as the only source of fertilizer according to the vendor batching up the berries. Samples of the sweet fruits were freely given and once you had a taste you were sure to pick a pint or three. Pints sold for $5 a piece or three for $12 and you could mix and match.
Honey vendors came in with jars of fresh clover honey in a variety of sizes for sale along with bee pollen products and honey sticks in a variety of yummy flavors. There were booths full of fresh jerky, custom, homegrown spice mixes, clothing, jewelry,
Some of the vendors appearing at the July 9 market are local residents who traveled far to gather their goods. These stepping stones were hauled from Colorado to Mesquite for the market. Hand-painted pavers, some quite elaborate and some simple, sold for as little as $20 a piece. Painted concrete benches sold for just $150. Photo by Teri Nehrenz
wooden décor and garden art for the picking; a bit of something for everyone including information booths from local clubs and groups.
One of the new vendors who set up for the third market traveled to visit a friend in Colorado who creates beautifully molded concrete yard art from statues and custom pavers to elaborate garden benches. His pieces sell for as little as $20, the benches just $150. They are very reasonable prices considering he loaded up a trailer and hauled 6,000 pounds of beautiful and decorative concrete back to Mesquite.
The heat may have kept shoppers away but Founder Chris Reif is doing everything he can to make this a comfortable and enjoyable experience for all. The inside vendors can attend to their booths and shoppers can browse in perfectly air-conditioned comfort. Inside vendors offered a wonderful variety of homegrown, handmade and homemade
Fresh honey was available from a couple of different vendors at Mesquite’s Farmers Market. Both brought a variety of fresh products such as honey on the hive, bee pollen products and these flavored honey sticks. Photo by Teri Nehrenz
goods as well.
Anyone interested, vendor or otherwise, in receiving more information on the future Mesquite Farmers Market events can contact Reif at 702-378-1112.
It would be nice to know whether any vendors are certified organic. I stopped by week before last but saw no organic signs anywhere.
I didn’t ask to see anyone’s certifications and didn’t notice any organic signs but the nice thing is…there is a number included in the article, you can call for more information about the market directly from the person responsible for it, if anyone would know it would be him.
Thank you