MOUNT VERNON — Fruits and vegetables will be more in abundance when shoppers visit the Mount Vernon Farmers Market this Saturday at Public Square. As we are now approaching the warm days of summer, plus the bonus of experiencing an early spring, a larger variety of produce items will start springing up in the coming weeks, according to Troy Cooper, OSU Extension agent-Knox County.
Strawberries, turnips and asparagus will be available at this week’s market, as well as numerous greens such as lettuce and spinach. During the month of June, items arriving at the Farmers Market will include radishes, zucchini, peas and hydroponic tomatoes, while arriving near the end of the month should be raspberries, sweet corn and green beans.
Bringing in a fresh supply of greens each week are Matthew and Corinne Gompf of Heritage Harvest Farm. Radishes, turnips and fresh-cut herbs, plus a variety of lettuces, will be available this week, including loose-leaf endive, romaine and head lettuce. Summer crops such as summer squash, zucchini and cucumbers will be offered in a few weeks. Eggs, spice mixes and dip mixes complement the produce offerings of Heritage Harvest Farm.
The Gompfs also offer a Community Supported Agriculture program where customers prepay for having a share of their garden. Weekly or bi-weekly share options are available. While some CSA’s require hours to be worked in the garden, “We find that our customers would just rather pick up their share,” said Corinne Gompf of the CSA service. All participating customers receive a share of everything available that week, including eggs.
“We only grow certain things for our shareholders,” said Gompf. This can differ from what is brought in each week to the Farmers Market. “They’re getting something special that not everybody else may be getting.” Anyone interested in being a shareholder in the CSA with Heritage Harvest Farm can sign up at this week’s Farmers Market.
The option of obtaining hydroponic tomatoes is available through Ross Brown of Fredericktown. Attending the Farmers Market each week, Brown explained that he starts his tomato seeds in early January. Seeds begin to grow under grow lights and are later moved to a greenhouse in February where they are grown in pots or buckets full of Perlite, an amorphous volcanic glass with a relatively high water content which is often used as a soil amendment.