Powassan Farmers' Market launches another season
The Powassan Farmers' Market has begun another season.
Market President Matt Larivee says the local event has been providing area residents with various goods each Saturday beginning with the Victoria Day long weekend and through Thanksgiving weekend in October for more than 35 years.
Larivee says the Main Street site is once again providing space for 12 fulltime vendors and can also accommodate part time vendors.
Larivee says since it's early in the growing season, what the public is likely to see most at this time of year are seedlings, seed starts, chives, rhubarb, perennials and fiddleheads.
He says some vendors will have various greens for sale that they planted earlier in the year under cover to protect them from the weather.
Larivee owns Foxfire Heritage Farm and in addition to providing market garden goods, he raises heritage meats like beef, pork and poultry for consumption.
“These are old world animals our grandparents would have raised 100 years ago,” Larivee said.
Larivee says unlike commercial meat farming, his animals are grown “slow and low” that require low maintenance and this results in a “nice quality end product”.
“I go for quality rather than quantity,” Larivee said.
“Typically with heritage animals you have to raise them twice as long. So where a commercially bred chicken can take six to eight weeks to raise, my chickens are raised for 16 to 18 weeks. It's the same with cows and pigs. They take twice the length of time to get to the same size.”
At a first glance it would appear Larivee's meats would be far more expensive than commercially grown meat.
However, he says this isn't the case.
Larivee says heritage breeds can eat more poor quality forage when they are out in the pasture to increase their weight but adds this approach is not suitable for commercially grown meats.
Rather he says the approach to increase the weight of commercially raised animals is to supplement their meals with grain and feed.
Larivee says this keeps his heritage meat products competitive with the commercial operators.
Larivee says as the season progresses, the public will see a larger selection of goods.
That's when the greens for salads become available, and Larivee says further on people will be able to buy peppers, tomatoes and carrots.
At this stage in the season, the public traffic has increased several fold because cottagers have been up for the summer and visit the farmers' market each Saturday to add fresh, locally grown food to their meals.
Larivee says the goal of the farmer's market is to promote area farmers.
As a result, the farm vendors are from Powassan, Trout Creek, Nipissing and Chisholm.
“We want to support our local vendors and up and coming farmers,” he said.
"We try to keep it as local as possible and try to pick vendors who fit in with our feel here at the market”.
In addition to food vendors, Larivee says several area residents also book a booth at the farmers' market to sell their handmade craft wares and baked goods.
“So we are made up of producers, makers and bakers,” Larivee said.
The farmers' market recognizes that parents will have their children with them, so with that in mind, each year the organizers create a kids' area that keeps the young ones busy with activities while their parents shop.
Larivee says in addition, this year a wooded area adjacent to the farmers' market is being cleaned up to provide an extra play area for children.
The farmers' market also has musical entertainment courtesy of local musicians.
The farmers' market runs 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Saturday rain or shine, and a visit to facebook.com/PowassanFarmersMarket provides more information.
Rocco Frangione, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, The North Bay Nugget
