[New post] Logan County Farmer’s Market provides valuable life skills for Fleming FFA student
Callie Jones posted: " The Logan County Farmers Market is now open for its new season and in addition to providing quality produce for community members, it's also teaching one Fleming High School senior some valuable life skills. Run by the Fleming FFA chapter, accordin" Sterling Journal-Advocate
A customer looks over produce available at Marv's Garden booth at the Logan County Farmer's Market Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. Marv's has been selling fruit and vegetables at the market for a number of years now. (Callie Jones/Sterling Journal-Advocate)
There was a truck load of corn available at the Logan County Farmer's Market Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. (Callie Jones/Sterling Journal-Advocate)
Fleming High School FFA member Jaime Nab, this year's director of the Logan County Farmer's Market, helps a customer at the Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, market. (Callie Jones/Sterling Journal-Advocate)
Customers browse vendor booths at the Logan County Farmer's Market Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. (Callie Jones/Sterling Journal-Advocate)
Customers found a wide selection of produce, as well as some plants, available for purchase at the Logan County Marketplace Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. (Callie Jones/Sterling Journal-Advocate)
Produce, honey and plant vendors await customers at the Logan County Farmer's Market Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022. (Callie Jones/Sterling Journal-Advocate)
The Logan County Farmers Market is now open for its new season and in addition to providing quality produce for community members, it's also teaching one Fleming High School senior some valuable life skills.
Run by the Fleming FFA chapter, according to advisor Kelly Schmidt the farmer's market has been going for about 10 years now. Originally held in the parking lot at Christ United Methodist Church, about five years ago it moved to the Bomgaars parking lot, where it is now open Saturdays from 8 to 10 a.m. and Wednesdays from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.
"We love our relationship with Bomgaars, they come to our vendor meeting that we hold in the spring," Schmidt said.
For the last three years, Fleming FFA member Jaime Nab has served as director of the market.
"Mrs. Schmidt told me about it and my friend Natali was doing it too, so I thought it would be fun to spend time with her twice a week and get to come here and hang out while also doing something to help the community," she said.
Nab is using the farmer's market for her SAE (supervised agricultural experience). Required for all FFA students, SAEs provide a method in agricultural education for students to receive real-world career experiences in an area of agriculture that they are most interested in.
As director of the farmer's market, Nab is responsible for supervising vendors and customers, to make sure everyone is following the rules and everything runs smoothly, and she is always there to answer anyone's questions if they need help. She also helps sign new people up when they want to participate in the market as vendors.
"We're always looking for new vendors," she said.
Any vendors interested in joining the market should attend one of the market days and talk to Nab or you can email schmidtk@flemingschools.org.
Another one of Nab's job duties is advertising the market through posts on the Logan County Farmer's Market Facebook page almost every Saturday and some Wednesdays, showing what is available. Most days you'll find a wide variety of items available including vegetables, fruit, honey, homemade noodles, flowers and more.
Right now, Nab said they have eight vendors and on Saturdays, there are typically at least 30 people lined up when the market first opens and it averages around 100 to 150 people. Wednesdays tend to be a little bit slower.
"We have a lot of vendors that have been coming for multiple years, like the entirety of the market," Schmidt said.
Marv's Garden has been with the market for a number of years, as has Luanne Shafer, and one vendor, Eric Lovell, was part of the Fleming FFA group that helped start the market and is now back selling plants there.
"It makes me happy," Lovell said about seeing the farmer's market still thriving. "It's just a great thing for community involvement and bringing the community together has always been a huge thing for me, that's what I absolutely love, whether it's just selling produce and connecting with the actual people who grew it, so you know where your produce came from, or just selling products that you made and the reward that you get for actually creating something that people want, it's great."
He used to sell produce at the market, but when he moved away to college he couldn't continue gardening, so he turned to houseplants instead. Lovell has around 300 to 400 plants in his small house right now.
"I got my degree in plant sciences horticulture and therefore I love growing, propagating and selling plants now, it's awesome," he said.
Along with his plants, Lovell is also hoping to bring the community together in a new way: dance. A member of the Country Swing Club in college, he has started a new group, Country KickUp Sterling. CKU is a non-profit dance group out of Greeley and as part of that group Lovell will be offering a five-week country community swing dance class at Northeastern Junior College starting Tuesday, Sept. 13.
Classes are from 7 to 8:15 p.m. and there will be social dancing from 8:15 5o 9 p.m. The cost is $30 per person or $5 for NJC students or local high schools.
Lovell will also be offering lessons at Melissa's School of Dance. To find out more, visit the CKU Sterling Facebook page or call 970-466-9605.
But, back to the farmer's market. Nab has been able to enhance this year's market after applying for and being awarded an SAE grant through FFA that provided funds to purchase a new tent cover, sponsored by Nutrion, which was much needed because the previous one was in very poor shape. After scouring the internet, Nab and Schmidt found the perfect one, which was put to use for the second time this past Saturday, and while there are still a few adjustments that need to be made both are pleased.
"We're very thankful and happy for it," Nab said.
As a senior, this year Nab will be filling out a proficiency application for her SAE project to submit to the state level and she is also hoping to qualify for a State FFA Degree.
She says the market has taught her a lot.
"I've learned a lot of great management skills, I've had to come up with solutions in some uncertain situations with vendors and other things that have happened at the market and I've also become better at communicating with others through solving those unforeseen problems," Nab said.
All skills that are sure to help her as she plans to continue on to college to earn a bachelor's degree in secondary math education so she can become a high school math teacher.
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