By Jasmine Willis
DANSVILLE — Despite the seemingly endless rainy season the local Farmers’ Market is continuing to be strong at the Dansville Municipal Airport.
Raging Winds Farm Owners Gary and Jan Roth are carrying on with the Friday Farmers’ Market legacy from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. They wish the Downtown Dansville Saturday Farmers’ Market a success as well.
On June 14 fresh strawberries came into season at the market. Gary Roth said the time has come to get more into fresh fruits and vegetables.
“We are always looking for more vendors. We have six of them so far this year,” he said. “The bad weather has been hard on the farmers. The soil remains cold, so some of the plants are not taking off yet. We are still doing really well with the flowers.”
The Dansville area and the Raging Winds Farm Market does very well with fresh produce every year.
“The bottom line is to encourage more people to get fresh produce from New York farmers,” Gary Roth said. “We will keep encouraging people to support local farmers.”
Jan Roth mentioned the produce from their farm is all organic. They supply spinach, baby zucchini, baby onions, spring onions, spinach, lettuce, beets, tomatoes, radishes, and much more. In the near future they will have lettuce, tomatoes, summer squash, cherries and peaches. The strawberries come from Jason Lang at Lang Farms.
“We honor the WIC, food stamps, and Senior Nutrition coupons here. They love the fresh produce, and they don’t get much money. It really helps them out so much. This is all made local right here in the area,” she said. “Most local people are happy to work together. Lang loves to help out local people who will sell right here in Dansville.”
Jan Roth added that there is room for everyone in the market.
“There is room for everyone. The Saturday market will be able to help people who can’t come here on Fridays. We wish them the very best. We hope all goes well. It will be a nice thing for Dansville to have them on Saturday mornings,” she said.
They have Amish, crafts, fresh produce, and JVR Company vendors down at the market.
“We have a lot of great local people who have been very faithful to our market,” Jan Roth said. “They appreciate having fresh local produce.”
Treasure Crafter Owner Carol French said she enjoys hearing updates from people at the market.
“I get caught up with people I haven’t seen at a long time at the market,” she said. “I love seeing old friends here. I love hearing their stories.”
French has continued repurposing items into beautiful works of art. She has a patriotic section, sports section, grapevine bird feeders, windchime beer openers, and much more.
“I still love making my horseshoe crafts. People love horses, and those seem to sell really well. I always do my patriotic theme items. It is important to keep up with them. I do some Dansville Mustangs and Buffalo Bills as well,” she said. “I make some corn husk wreaths, and new this year I have magnet corn planters. I still love doing this every single year.”
French added that the chicken wire photos and macramé planters are also new this year.
“I see this as my favorite hobby and a social thing that keeps me busy,” she said. “I always like to help out my fellow vendors too. We all look out for each other here.”
Dansville Farmers’ Market is located on Maple Street and is open every Friday through October from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.