FELLSMERE — For the last few years, Fellsmere City Councilwoman Sara Savage has dreamed of having a farmers market in town. Last Saturday, that dream came true with the inaugural Fellsmere Farmers Market and Mercado at the Old Fellsmere School.
“I am happy,” Savage said of the weather, the turnout and the event. “It’s been great.”
For fellow organizer Chanda Mundy, the first market marks the end of the stress and worry or getting it going.
“It’s a great weight lifted off my shoulders,” she said, adding that two days prior to the market she was so frazzled she tried using her credit card – not her key – to start her car. “It’s a relief.”
Several hundred people descended on the grounds outside the school ready to peruse the produce stands, the booths of jams and jellies and pickled foods, the handmade bags and jewelry – and to win prizes, including a tour for six at The National Elephant Center.
“I don’t usually win things,” said Linda Mitchell, who was the lucky winner of the tour. “It feels good.” To improve her odds in the drawing, she bought 12 tickets.
Mitchell, who lives in Vero Beach, had heard about the elephants and the center piqued her interest.
“I would like to volunteer there,” Mitchell said.
Now, Mitchell has the unenviable task of choosing who will go with her to The National Elephant Center.
One person, for sure, will be invited, she said – her friend from Fellsmere’s EcoTone Farm, a hydroponic lettuce farm. Her friend told Mitchell about the market and the chance drawing for the tour.
Others who will attend the tour will be family members and a couple other friends, Mitchell said.
The National Elephant Center Executive Director John Lehnhardt said he was excited to be asked to be part of the inaugural Fellsmere market and provide a chance drawing for the tour.
All the proceeds from the tickets sold went directly to the non-profit elephant facility.
“It’s a continuing positive relationship with Fellsmere,” Lehnhardt said. “We couldn’t feel better about where we wound up.”
Along with farm fresh produce and handmade products, live farm animals were also available for sale for those wanting to establish their own livestock.
Eden Bentley made the drive from Cocoa to purchase five chicks, which will be family pets.
“I’ll let them run around the coop and be cute,” Bentley said, adding that if they happen to produce eggs, all the better.
One of Councilwoman Savage’s original partners in the project is Yolanda Gomez, who is a coordinator of the Fellsmere Community Garden. The garden – which has expanded to two sites and is growing to include a third – got started three or four years ago and served as the inspiration for the farmers market.
“We’ve been working so hard to get this to happen,” Gomez said of the market. The farmers market, in part, is meant to provide the Community Garden’s participants a place to sell their produce.
Though not the most ideal time to launch the market, Gomez said sales at the booth were good. Of the 40 bunches of radishes they brought, only three remained near the end of the 5-hour event. Also for sale were fresh okra, sweet potatoes, eggplant and sunflower sprouts.
“It’s been a very wonderful experience,” Gomez said of participating in the market, adding that, in a couple months, they expect to have much more produce to sell as the crops come in for harvest.
The Fellsmere Farmers Market and Mercado will be held from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the second, fourth and fifth Saturdays of the month outside the Old Fellsmere School off County Road 512 at S. Orange Street.
Sara Savage and Chanda Mundy continue to accept applications from vendors seeking to set up a booth at the market. Anyone interested is encouraged to call Savage at (772) 413-1784 or call co-organizer Mundy at (772) 321-2998.
