MOUNT VERNON — Flowers, herbs, lettuce, honey, cheese, breads, cookies, pies, jams and even dog biscuits ... all this and more was found in abundance Saturday morning in Mount Vernon during the weekly Farmers Market on Public Square. The weather for the event was ideal, and the turnout was just as positive. Visitors came from all across Knox County, filling Public Square to the point where it was actually hard to walk at times with people crowded in shoulder to shoulder to see what items were available this week.
Displaying a variety of herbs and perennials was Melissa Akers whose gardening passion started out as a hobby and has now seen this grow to become a side business. Herbs she had for sale were basil, dill, rosemary, parsley, sage, Italian oregano, peppermint and others. Salvia and geraniums were among the perennials she was offering.
Matt Daniels and Danielle Hildebrand of Ohio Farm Direct at Amity were providing some yummy samples to tempt people into buying some of their unique flavors of cheese. Flavors included mushroom, lemon zest, habanero and a new cranberry almond flavor. Daniels said that all of their cheese comes from certified organic milk and is from cows that are 100 percent grass fed.
Seen buying some bread from Andrew Reinert of Crazy Cat Farm was Michael Percy. Unique offerings of bread Reinert had on display were fougase and baguettes to go along with his sourdough bread. He had previously been in the egg business before switching to breads six years ago.
Pets were not exempt as far as being able to get some local products for them, too. Ruth Ermlick of Charlie’s Dog Biscuits offered dog biscuits in some interesting flavors. Peanut butter and banana were the flavors available on Saturday. Also on hand were ‘Lil Bites for small dogs and Charlie’s Elvis Biscuits.