Poplar Farmers Market kicks off

TOWN OF AMNICON — Neighbors, friends and folks looking for local produce stopped by Riverside Bar and Grill in the town of Amnicon Thursday, June 1 to check out the inaugural Poplar Farmers Market.

The market, located roughly a 10-minute drive east of Superior on U.S. Highway 2, will be held from 4-7 p.m. every Thursday through October.

Satina Powers lives a few miles away in the farm country of Poplar.

"I’m looking for all things farmers market. I like fresh produce, meat, eggs. We have 12 chickens that don't give us eggs," said Powers, who brought her 15-month-old son, Theo, with her.She picked up black walnut stain, fresh bread, eggs and garlic. The market is on her calendar every week, and she's looking forward to more variety later in the summer.

"Hopefully eventually fresh produce since that's the hardest thing to get," Powers said. "You can't store it obviously and there are no grocery stores."

The rhubarb from Berg Park Farm sold out quickly. Diane Munger, who lives across the road from the site, and Pat Khalar from the town of Superior cradled the bright pink stalks in their arms as they visited other stands. Munger planned to turn her fresh find into a strawberry rhubarb pie; Khalar was leaning more toward cake.

Tonie Corbin of Solon Springs picked up garlic and chives from Berg Park Farm, as well as eggs from Hill Family Farms , run by siblings Wade Hill and Sharon Dzikonski.

"I usually go to Spooner, so this is a fun Thursday night thing, where Spooner can be my Saturday thing," she said.

Jake Williams, market manager, runs Drifty Acres and Regenerative Ruminants, which houses 40 goats as well as sheep, chickens and turkeys. The farm's goats will be traveling around the area to mow down invasive plants in the Brule River Forest and half a dozen sites in Duluth this summer.

He had cucumber, squash and tomato starter plants available and was taking orders for holiday gift boxes. At a neighboring table, his roommate Madeline Gould of Hoop Snake Farm offered walnuts, maple syrup collected from Madeline Island, applesauce and beef tallow soap.

Why launch a farmers market at Riverside?

"There's just not a whole lot for grocery stores in the area and there are plenty of farmers who have products to sell," Williams said. "I figured well, there's an opening and there’d be a lot of interest for it."

Williams, who works at Riverside as a line cook, has been coordinating with the owners.

"This is our first real add-on," said Jennifer Blank, who co-owns Riverside with her brother and her husband. It was, she said, "my idea to see what else we could bring here for the community for people to come to, and then also to enjoy the food and the deck and everything else here."

Next up will be lawn games, and the business already has a pet-friendly deck.

The mother-daughter duo of Jillisa and Selah Kraemer offered Wholly Nourished Market baked goods, which use organic, non-GMO ingredients with no artificial dyes or flavors. People may have seen them at the Downtown Superior Farmers Market on Wednesdays. Kraemer said they were happy to branch out to Poplar.

"It's so awesome because there was nothing in the area, and so it was such a great thing that they were going to start," Kraemer said.

The market's spot, right off the highway, is ideal, said Chelsea DeMoure of CC Customs, who creates reclaimed wood art. Later in the summer, she’ll have vegetables for sale.

"I think it's perfect. We’ve got a little bit of everything," she said.

The aim is to make it a fun place to come.

"We want it to be a destination for people not just coming to get their vegetables, but hang, meet the farmers, get a burger," Williams said.

Visit the Poplar Farmers Market Facebook page for more information.

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