Local is the key to green in Huron

Are you looking for a farmers’ market that just has food? You don’t want the crafts and extras, you just lots and lots of produce and maybe even a local butcher? Well, I found it. This farmers’ market has local fruits and veggies, some yummy baked goods and a local butcher where you can get meat. It’s not too good to be true: it’s real.

I had to switch up my routine this week to find this farmers’ market. Instead of going out on a Saturday morning, I had to head out on Thursday afternoon. I know it’s different, but I kind of liked it too, because there are so many on Saturdays that it can be hard to find what you want at just one. This way you can go to one on Thursday and then hit up another one Saturday morning if you need to.

Where did I go? It’s in the title so you know, but I’ll get to the point and start telling you everything I found out. I went to Huron’s First Federal Farmers’ Market. This farmers’ market sets up shop at the Huron Boat Basin & Amphitheater and it’s truly just a farmers’ market (and that is not a bad thing). A lot of the farmers’ markets I have visited had limited food choices — they had lots of crafts and other cool things going on, but they only had a few produce vendors and no local butcher.

The First Federal Farmers’ Market has almost no information online and if you only type in “Huron farmers’ market” for your search, you get the city of Huron’s website and, of course, Funcoast.com’s local calendar listing and guide to local farmers’ markets. I couldn’t find any good information on Huron’s city web site. They only list the time and location of the market. The good news is all the times matched: 3:30-6:30 p.m., and you will want to go early.

How many produce vendors did the Huron First Federal Farmers’ Market have? Well, there were 19 total vendors there the day I went, and only three out of the 19 did not have local produce. I know it was all local because I asked. If any of the vendors had something on the tables that they themselves didn’t grow, they told me it either came from a neighbor’s farm or another farm with 50 miles.

You really could get all of the produce you need for the week there. If you take a look online at all the photos I took at the market, you will see a huge variety of fruits and veggies. The vendors had lots of different peppers, tons of different kinds of tomatoes, apples, plums, carrots (a first, I haven’t seen them at any other market), three different kinds of eggplants, local melons, green onions, potatoes, beets, rhubarb, green beans, squash, cucumbers, zucchini, blackberries, blueberries, sweet corn and a ton more. All of the vendors were really nice and answered any questions I had about the produce.

I did see two vendors that had baked goods. One was Easy as Pie; they are at the Huron Farmers’ Market on Thurdays and the Sandusky Farmers’ Market on Saturday mornings. Easy as Pie had seven different kinds of pies and also will do special orders of pecan and elderberry. They all smelled really good, so if you don’t have the time to make your own, totally go pick one up from them.

There was another vender that had baked goods and they had all kinds of cookies and a few types of bread. They offered a dozen yummy cookies for $4.

The one vendor that no other farmers’ market has had is a local butcher. I have been searching for these guys at all the farmers’ markets. The vendor is Hickory Acres and they are out of Oberlin. They had beef, pork, poultry, lamb, local Amish cheese and more. If you are wondering how much Hickory Acres products are, they have a complete price listing on their web site at hickoryacres.net. You can also order off the web site, but that kind of takes the fun out of going to the farmers’ market. Hickory Acres meats also have no hormones or antibiotics.

I know you have heard me talk about buying local and how important it is and if you have forgotten, make sure to reread “Start eating local and build a community” on Funcoast.com and do some of your own research. But really there is power in being able to talk to the farmers and butchers and ask them questions, like what kinds of pesticides do you use and what do you feed the cattle? If you choose to eat meat, you have a responsibility to make sure you know how these animals are being treated and what impact they have on our environment. OK, I’m done with my rant.

The Huron First Federal Farmers’ Market is a great farmers’ market and a good place to bring the kids. The market starts in July and runs into late October at the Huron Boat Basin parking lot on Thursdays from 3:30-6:30 p.m. You will want to get there early because it gets busy and they could run out of what you want. Oh, and don’t forget your cloth bags and a freezer bag if you are going to pick up some meat.