Farmers Market Bulletin       June 11, 2014

(Front page)
Macon Farmers Showcase successful
start to 2014 event season


By: Dallas Duncan

Get your shopping bags ready – the 2014 Georgia Grown Farmers Showcase season kicked off last month at the Macon State Farm- ers Market.

“It is absolutely bigger and better than we hoped for,” market manager Happy Wyatt said. “People are hearing the radio ad, people saw the TV spots this morning. Word is out there and people are wanting to attend.”

Hundreds of visitors traveled to the middle Georgia event and were delighted with a variety of produce, meat, jams, sauces, crafts and more by area Georgia Grown members, a number of which plan to set up at the upcoming Atlanta, Savannah and Moultrie showcases.

Davis Yaun of Whispering Pines Farm in Soperton, Ga., enjoyed interacting with customers and sharing the story of his operation.Yaun’s farm specializes in the luffa, which he refers to as “nature’s exfoliator.”

“To my knowledge, we’re the only ones growing commercially in the state of Georgia, at least the only one that’s a Georgia Grown member,” he said. “It’s the only product you can think of that I can grow it, and it’s not like the berries or the fruits where I have to find an immediate market. After these are dried they’re OK a month later; they’re OK a year later.”

He had samples available for demonstration and even seedlings for shoppers to take home.  “Being in on the early stages of Georgia Grown has been exciting because we’ve been able to watch Georgia Grown grow as well as us growing,” Yaun said. ___________________________________________________________