Farmers Market Is Still On

DAYTON - The Farmer's Market is back for the summer bringing bright produce and baked goods to Dayton shop- pers.

"The farmers market is alive and well yet again this year," Dayton farmers market Coordi- nator Zonia Dedloff said. "We had eight vendors (recently)."

The market runs on Satur- days from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. but they tend to close early if atten- dance is low or the weather gets too hot or too rainy, Dedloff said. The vendors set up at the Dayton Historic Depot, she said, primarily on the patio.

The farmers market Chair- man Travis Richardson, who has been working with the mar- ket for three years, said it has been going well so far this sum- mer. He said the few things that aren't grown in the Dayton area are from the surrounding areas, like Milton-Freewater, Ore.

The attendance of patrons has been better than expected, Richardson said.

But vendor attendance is sometimes problematic, Dedloff said. She said she and Rich- ardson sometimes struggle to bring vendors in to participate.

"We don't get a lot of ven- dors and I don't know why we don't," Dedloff said. "It's like pulling teeth. We let people know that we're there and we're taking vendors and some come out and some don't."

Dedloff stressed that ven- dors who want to participate are not required to come every week. She said the number of vendors varies greatly, one week two might attend one weekend and the next weekend there might be 10.

"It's only $4 a day to (par- ticipate) with us," Richardson said. "It's a small volunteer-run market."

In the last weeks, Dedloff has had vendors selling blue- berries, cherries, raspberries, peaches, rhubarb, garlic, let- tuce, Walla Walla sweet onions, baked goods, crafts, fresh eggs, honey and jewelry.

"The fruit is ripe and we will have more stuff for sale later in the season," Richardson said. "There will be corn, peaches, tomatoes, carrots, cucumbers and all kinds of good stuff up- coming."

Dedloff said she sells baked goods at the market and has been part of the Farmer's Mar- ket for five years.

She brings pies, cookies, brownies, cupcakes and two weeks ago she had s'mores on a stick; a big marshmallow on a stick covered in chocolate and rolled in graham cracker crumbs.

The most important thing is that everything the market sells is local and seasonal.

"We're selling what's in season," Dedloff said. "And we have pretty fair prices. I know I'm much cheaper than the bakery just because I like to bake and I don't want to bring it home either."

While the market is only open on Saturdays, Richardson sells fresh produce from a stand near his home across the street from Laht Neppur Brewery in Waitsburg. This location is great, he said, because he keeps close to home to help take care of his new baby.