DALLAS TWP. — The fresh snap of a green string bean or a just-picked zucchini are some of the tastes the Back Mountain Memorial Library Farmers Market offers starting Saturday, July 9.
The event will kick-off in the parking lot of Dallas Elementary School, 2000 Conyngham Ave. in Dallas, featuring a variety of vendors selling locally grown produce, baked goods, honey, cheeses, herbs, meats and much more, said Mike Messersmith, chairman of the farmers market.
“You can buy the freshest of produce here,” Messersmith said. “They (farmers) are out picking the day and night before (market day). It is the same with the bakers.”
The Back Mountain Memorial Library Farmers Market is a weekly summer staple that will run until Oct. 15.
The market was previously held outside the library, located at 96 Huntsville Road in Dallas, but attracted such a large crowd that traffic overwhelmed the roads and created problems for nearby residents and the police, he said.
“We had over 1,000 people coming to the market every Saturday,” Messersmith said. “It created a bottleneck.”
The library relocated the farmers market to the Dallas Elementary School parking lot last year to accommodate customers. The new location provides plenty of vendor space, customer parking, and better traffic flow, he said.
“Dallas School District lets us use the front parking lot for free,” he said. “At the end of last season, we were averaging 2,000 customers a day. We finished the season (last year) with 17 vendors. This year we are hoping to open with 20 vendors.”
Ted Dymond of Dymond Farm Market and Bakery in Dallas, who participated in the farmers market since its inception nearly 12 years ago, plans to have zucchini, green and yellow string beans and early corn for the opening day.
“We always do well in the market,” Dymond said. “It (the farmers market) is only going to grow. The Back Mountain is growing.”
The farmers market is another fundraising tool for the Back Mountain Memorial Library. This year the event kicks off during the 70th annual auction weekend, to be held on library grounds July 7-10.
Last year the library earned $6,800 from the farmers market, Messersmith said.
“It was enough to cover the pay of one part-time employee,” he said.
