Farmers markets are the ideal place for at-home business owners to sell their homemade honey and candles and for homegrown producers to share their produce as fruits and vegetables are starting to ripen on the local grounds of central Illinois.
The towns of Oakwood and Mahomet have prepared for their local farmer’s markets to take flight this summer.
Tami Helka, library director for the Oakwood Public Library was given the opportunity to oversee Oakwood’s Farmer’s market for this year.
“With Oakwood being a smaller town especially since we don’t have a grocery store here and our only other source being Dollar General, having local and homegrown produce is the biggest thing to offer to the community,” said Helka.
Helka worked to advertise different vendors, bringing about 21 unique businesses to the Oakwood Farmers Market this past Wednesday night.
“Our biggest obstacle is that we were hoping to get food trucks so that we could offer some dinner options to our customers and we haven’t had any businesses that would be interested in setting up,” said Helka.
Although Helka described this as a minor inconvenience for the market, there are only a few other local restaurants that have pizza and ice cream including truck stops with other foods.
The Oakwood Farmers Market prefers finding vendors who strictly work out of their homes with no storefront.
“Our motto is homegrown homebase homemade, we want it more out of the home but if they are a small business out of a store we welcome them as well,” mentioned Helka.
Walter Pierce, Chamber Director of the Mahomet Area Chamber of Commerce, mentioned that the Mahomet Farmer’s Market abides by similar values.
“At the chamber we support the local businesses downtown with events like the soda Festival that will bring 400+ people to Mahomet, so this Farmer’s market is mainly for those home-based businesses that need a way to market their goods and services,” said Pierce.
While hosting a local market may fuel home-grown businesses, Pierce explained the many downfalls of organizing these events.
“The market in Mahomet should be very very busy. We have 15,000 people in our zip code so people are certainly getting the word out there, we just aren’t seeing the crowds,” said Pierce.
The Mahomet Area Chamber of Commerce decided four years ago to bring back farmers markets, making it a relatively new function for the Mahomet community, compared to the markets of Urbana and Champaign.
“We’re competing with Urbana, they usually get a lot more business and produce than us but that’s just because they’ve been around a lot longer,” said Pierce.
Another complaint to the market, specifically the vendors, is the lack of specific produce in comparison to the large-scale grocery stores that get their produce from interstate commerce.
“What garden is producing tomatoes in the first two weeks of June?” said Pierce.
Pamela Johnson, owner of “This Week With Pamela” will be selling her work of image transfers and other crafts at the Mahomet Farmer’s Market this year.
“It’s been a blessing that I have Mahomet’s Farmers Market because it’s so fun to get out there and meet new people,” said Johnson.
Johnson mentioned the struggles of creating reasonably priced customized pieces when her resources are costly.
“One of the problems is the cost of Lumber and it not being as accessible in different seasons for when my customized orders come in,” said Johnson.
Johnson wants to provide unique, affordable home decor to the community while also fostering friendships.
“Being able to go down the street on a Saturday morning was great, not even from a business standpoint but just from being a part of the community and wanting to do more,” said Johnson.
Area Market Details
Mahomet Farmer’s Market
The Depot at 401 W. Oak St.
Saturday mornings from June 5th – October 2nd
List of Vendors Here
Oakwood Farmer’s Market
Oakwood City Park
Wednesdays from 5-7pm
Find More Information Here
Homer Farmer’s Market
Downtown Homer
Wednesdays from 4-6pm
Find More Information Here
Urbana Farmer’s Market
Lincoln Square Mall, Urbana
Saturday mornings
Find More Information Here
Champaign Farmer’s Market
Downtown Champaign Neil and Market
Tuesdays 3-6 p.m.
Find More Information Here
