Johnstown farmers market proposed

Johnstown residents can look forward to buying locally grown fresh vegetables if details can be worked out for a twice weekly farmers market in the Town Square or the Church of the Ascension parking lot.

Rodney Tornes and Dick Steyer, of Ascension, presented a proposal for the Johnstown Farmers Market during Tuesday's council meeting.

The goal is to debut the market from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturday, June 20, and continue it through Saturday, Oct. 24. During the months of July and August, the market would also be held from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesdays.

Tornes and Steyer sought use of Bigelow Park in the Town Square for the market and asked if market vendors could set up in the slant parking lot.

Acting village manager Randy Ashbrook said he would discuss the matter with the Monroe Township trustees since most of the market would be held on township property. Law director Mary Ellen Fulk will also examine the legalities related to the operation.

Tornes said the market would assist charitable groups within the community, such as the Johnstown Northridge Food Pantry and the St. Vincent de Paul Society at Ascension.

Church of the Ascension has eight acres of land adjacent to the church that would be divided among the Johnstown FFA, community garden plots, the church garden and a large pumpkin patch and sweet corn area.

"The FFA will help supply plants," Tornes said. "A lot of the students need community service hours to graduate. They can get their hands dirty. We will do crop production ourselves.

"We'll also rent out garden plots to anyone from the community," he said. "It's good crop land out there."

Steyer said the FFA could also use the land for educational purposes, such as crop management and soil testing.

Debra Burden, J-M agricultural education instructor, told The Independent the farmers market offers community outreach, and many consumers are seeking fresh products.

"It opens up huge opportunities for us if we're still here," she said. "There are so many potentials, but it's up in the air."

The J-M ag program has been targeted as a possible cut if the May 5 school levy fails.

In exchange for the FFA's use of the land, the church will receive a lot of its plants from the FFA greenhouse to provide crops.

Those crops would include cabbage, broccoli, cucumbers, cantaloupe, green peppers, rainbow peppers, garden salsa peppers, Beefmaster tomatoes, Quick Pick hybrid tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, Roma tomatoes, zucchini and yellow squash.

"The crops and produce will be local," Burden said. "We're not going to do flowers at all in the greenhouse this year, because I anticipate extra business vegetable-wise. Last year we started to see that trend."

Steyer wants to get fliers out to advertise the availability of garden plots.

"We would like the Town Square to get community involvement," he said. "We have local people who go to other farmers markets. We'll have it twice a week, so we may pull vendors from other areas."

Tornes said the market would be limited to home-grown and homemade items, and would prohibit flea market items and antiques.

Council member Adam Roberts said he doesn't have a problem with fresh vegetables, but he's concerned about items like quilts and paintings that would be disguised as handmade and have "made in China" tags.

"We want something unique," Tornes said. "We don't want a flea market. We want something local, unique, special, home-grown and completely fresh. We want something you can't get at the grocery store."

Council member Carol Van Deest said she's in favor of the market, if details can be worked out.

"I think it's a very good idea," agreed council president Joyce Evans.

Anyone interested in the farmers market can e-mail Steyer at rsteyer@columbusmail.com.