Blooming Prairie residents can now shop locally grown and crafted goods right in their hometown.
Blossom Thyme Farmers Market debuted Wednesday evening in Fire Department Park to favorable weather, drawing a variety of vendors on its inaugural night.
Emily Glaser, vice president of the market board, said the Blossom Thyme will fill a gap in the community.
“Austin has a farmers market, Owatonna has one. Why not Blooming Prairie? We’re right smack dab in the middle and we can really pull from both sides and make it big, and showcase Blooming Prairie and Awesome Blossom pride,” said Glaser.
Hailing from the Twin Cities originally, Glaser was accustomed to having plenty of farmers markets nearby. She said it seemed wrong that Blooming Prairie didn’t have one of its own.
Glaser is part of a trio that founded the market, together with Market President Michelle Lee and Treasurer Emily Lurken. While the other two are Blooming Prairie natives, she moved to the community six years ago.
Working together, they launched the market after about two weeks of planning.
“The three of us, when we put our mind to something, we go. There’s no pause,” said Glaser.
Glaser said she worried about turnout for their first night until she arrived to find cars lined up around the park and customers browsing the market.
Jennifer Grovdahl, of Blooming Prairie business Hen House and Co., brought a range of her freeze dried candy and fruit to the market. Grovdahl organizes the market during the town’s Old Fashioned Fourth of July celebrations, and was thrilled that someone took the initiative to start a weekly market.
Grovdahl said she has 130 market days booked this year, all over the region. Blossom Thyme is the only market she attends that’s free for vendors, and she’s thankful to finally have one so close to home.
“We’ll travel up to an hour. We do county fairs and stuff like that even, so having something here locally where it takes five minutes to show up — absolutely fantastic,” she said.
Grovdahl said she was pleased to see the variety of vendors, noting that’s the key to bringing shoppers back week after week.
Other vendors travelled from around Steele County and beyond for the market’s opening night, like Audrey Klukas, a lifelong gardener from Merton Township who brought pickles, jams and other goods.
Tammy Jeno, of Hollandale, has sold goods out of her house for the past year but had never sold at a farmers market until Wednesday. She said Blossom Thyme is the only farmers market she’s found that works with her schedule.
“Other places you have to commit every Saturday, and then sometimes you have to do it twice a week. I have a full-time job, can’t do that,” said Jeno.
She sold goods including quail eggs, houseplants, barbecue sauce and salsa, and plans to bring more in the future.
Cottage baker Haydee Segura , a regular at the Owatonna Farmers Market, brought sourdough loaves, jam and other goods. She said having another market close to home presents an opportunity to grow her business.
“I think it’s a great opportunity to expand a little bit,” she said. “I have in mind to have a bakery business, so I need to expand my name.”
Segura said it’s good for a community to have a farmers market, and she’s glad to see Blooming Prairie starting up its own.
The organizers hope this week’s market is just the beginning. Lee said they’ve already received several new vendor applications. They plan to expand throughout the park as more vendors sign up, and Glaser said they may have live music in the future as well.
Local News
Comments / 0