Barberry Farm manager Jeremy Kronz and Bob Davis talk with customers during the July 15 Farmers Market in Robinson. Products raised on the Sewickley Heights farm, which is owned by Kirsten Recker, include grass-fed longhorn beef, skulls and hides.
By just about any measure, the Robinson Farmers Market has been a success since its inception in 2017.
The market is a project of Archangel Gabriel Parish, which includes Holy Trinity, St. Malachy and St. Mary, Help of Christians churches. The market is held Monday afternoons at Holy Trinity’s upper parking lot, off Steubenville Pike, from mid-May through the first week of October.
Deena Swank, who serves as the parish’s communications director, said the market brings people from the community onto the campus who wouldn’t normally visit.
“To me, that’s a win in terms of outreach – letting them know that we’re here and we have services we can provide to anyone, not just parishioners and not just Catholics,” Swank said.
For the three dozen or so vendors who frequent the farmers market, success is measured differently. But one of those vendors – Erin Swope of Swope’s Farm – said the fact that her family’s business has been coming back every year since the market began is proof of its success.
“We wouldn’t be here otherwise,” she said. “Time is money.”
Bonnie Amendola, in her third year as market manager, said she gauges success on the fact that people keep coming back, there’s solid word-of-mouth in the community and there’s a healthy corps of volunteers to help stage the show from 3-7 p.m. every Monday.
“People look forward to it,” she said. “We hear good things from the vendors. Overall, I think it’s successful.”
Swank said Erin Stuvek, the parish’s former director of evangelization, launched the farmers market in 2017.
“Her idea was to bring people from the community onto campus, not only to build community but as a way to bring the community to us and provide a service as well,” she said.
The market developed a following, but like other endeavors, it took a hit during the pandemic. But some of the original vendors, such as Swope and Zouhair Mkais, returned when the market reopened.
Mkais said he enjoys bringing his Hello Hummus wares – hummus and small salads – largely because he lives in nearby Ingram.
Madelyn, Ella, Lily, Abby, and Dale Woolf are third- and fourth-generation farmers from Salem, Ohio. Products from the Columbiana County orchard and farm can be found weekly during the season at Robinson, Sewickley, Bloomfield and Market Square markets. During the July 15 sale in Robinson, the family had freshly picked peaches, tomatoes and blueberries available.
“So the Robinson Farmers Market is so close to us,” he said. “It feels like I’m serving my neighborhood.”
Mkais said the reason he sells hummus and salads is simple: he wants to feed people fresh and healthy food.
“The good thing about farmers markets is that farmers and other vendors provide good local produce and food,” he said. “No GMO stuff.”
Dale Woolf of Woolf Farm emphasized the fresh aspect as well. Woolf has a 200-acre orchard just outside Salem, Ohio – about a 70-minute drive from the Robinson Farmers Market.
“We bring fresh fruit and vegetables that we pick in the morning – we try to pick and sell everything within 24 hours,” he said. “We’re currently picking peaches, tomatoes and blueberries and we’ll have sweet corn.
“Everything is seasonal – it all depends on what’s ready each week.”
Sisters Ella and Lily Woolf prepare to package up an order of peaches picked fresh that morning.
One aspect of the farmers market that appeals to Mkais is that the people who come to shop there seem more open to try new things. That’s been crucial for someone dealing in a product like hummus.
“Some people are afraid to try new stuff – new veggies and new fruit – at first because they don’t know about it,” he said. “But the farmers market is a great experience for everybody because when you go to the farmers market, you can try new stuff and you become a big fan.”
Staging the market on a weekly basis for five months a year is no easy feat. Amendola said much of the work – generally planning and vendor recruitment – is done in February and March. She said it’s important to have things nailed down well before the first market is held in May.
“The worst thing that could happen is shoppers showing up and seeing big holes,” she said. “But we have very committed vendors – eight or nine of the original vendors are still coming.” Mkais saluted the work that Amendola and the volunteers do.
“Erin started it and did a good job, and Bonnie is awesome,” he said. “Without them, we wouldn’t have a market there. We have to give them credit for our success. They create jobs for us.”
Mkais said the experience at a farmers market is much different from shopping at a grocery store. “With a grocery store, you’re there to get your stuff and go home,” he said. “At the farmers market, you stop at Hello Hummus and you talk to me. Or you talk with Erin. Or Miguel. We feel like we have a relationship with that person.
“And we really do appreciate what they do for us.”
Kat Gipson offers samples of the wide range of products available from McLaughlin Distillery during the July 15 Robinson Farmers Market. The small batch, craft distillery located in the hills of Sewickley specializes in bourbon, whiskey and naturally flavored moonshines.
Once the market is up and running, staging each weekly installment takes plenty of work – physically and otherwise. Each Monday, vendors start setting up around 1:30 p.m., and the market goes from 3-7 p.m. By 7:30 or so, everyone is ready to head home. Amendola said she’s usually the last person to leave, as she makes sure the parking lot is ready for Mass the next day.
“It can be a lot of work,” she said. “But we’re lucky to have a lot of volunteers – the Knights of Columbus and individuals from the church and the parish who enjoy being part of it and keep coming back to help.”
Flo Mack and Pat Grabinski are among the loyal cadre of volunteers who help keep things running.
Mack said she had retired from her career as a legal assistant at a law firm four years ago and was searching for volunteer opportunities when this one popped up.
“I like it,” she said. “It’s the people who come here – the interaction with people. We’re in the information booth, so we see people coming in right away.”
Grabinski said her information booth duties are not that taxing.
“It’s not like a technical job for me,” she said. “But it’s nice. It’s a community event – people stop by to buy fresh vegetables, honey, salsa or whatever else they like.”
Amendola said the Robinson Farmers Market has a roster of about 36 vendors, including food trucks, and each week the market features 25 to 30. That’s down a bit from Amendola’s first year, but she said that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“We had a whole additional row, but it was actually too crowded,” she said.
One way Amendola keeps a handle on the size is to try to avoid duplication among the vendors.
“We have one honey vendor – we stick with that one honey vendor,” she said. “We have one for hummus and dips. It makes it more profitable for the vendors and less crowded. People walk around, get something to eat – they know what to expect.”
Amendola said she tries to keep as much of a local flavor as possible when it comes to recruiting vendors. For example, she turned down a request from a nearby franchise sandwich shop to set up at the market because she didn’t feel it was the kind of place that regular attendees are looking for.
“We try to bring unique things that people can’t find somewhere else,” she said.
Aside from Swope’s honey and Mkais’ hummus and salads, attendees can find an array of treats – juice, coffee, doughnuts, kettle corn, burritos, pita, honey and assorted produce, among other things. Nonedibles such as soaps and candles also are available.
As for those attendees, Amendola said she sees a lot of the same faces on a regular basis.
“We have people who come every week for certain food trucks or to pick up their meat order,” she said. “It’s a pretty steady flow of regular customers we see each week.”
Amendola said market workers used to count the attendance, which would range from about 400 to 600. She’s not sure what the attendance is these days, but it doesn’t seem like anyone is complaining.
“We always hope there will be more people for our vendors, but we do feel it’s a steady crowd,” she said. “It’s never overcrowded to the point where people are waiting in long lines.
“The vendors seem happy – they don’t say that it’s not profitable.”
Amendola said vendors pay a flat fee, either for the entire season or a half-season.
“It’s not intended to be a money-maker for the parish,” she said. “It’s really just a community outreach.
“For people who might be new to the area, it’s an opportunity to come to the parish and learn about the parish. We do have information available and there’s a priest around to talk. But we don’t ‘preach.’ It’s more like, ‘Here’s who we are. We’re happy to have you as part of the community.’”
This year’s market will run every Monday through Oct. 7, with the exception of Labor Day on Sept. 2.
On Aug. 5, the Robinson market will celebrate Farmers Market Week, and along with the usual attractions, the market will have a variety of activities including face painting, visits from an alpaca and some longhorn steers, and cooking demonstrations from Farm to Table of Western Pennsylvania.
“This is just a way to highlight farmers markets and celebrate them,” Amendola said, “and hopefully bring more people in and show them what we have to offer.”
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