From the Ground Up

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/06/2018 (2639 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For as long as he has been in the business, Terry Durham has always wanted to do things the way nature intended it.

Hidden away on his 10-acre plot of land just north of Holland, Durham, the owner of Sandy Hills Chicken Run, doesn’t spray any chemical on his vegetables, or give his free-range chickens and turkeys any antibiotics or growth hormones.

This stands out as a point of pride for the self-described hobby farmer, who has set aside a quarter of his property to grow everything from asparagus, radishes, peas, carrots, beans, garlic, potatoes, corn, chili peppers, strawberries, or anything else he decides to try his hand at throughout the year.

Over the next several months, Durham hopes his all-natural methods will serve him well as he gets ready for the summer season at the Brandon Farmer’s Market.

Call me a bird brain, I just kind of like the way Mother Nature works and I try to follow her lead

Durham is one of the more than two-dozen vendors who will take part in the Brandon Farmer’s Market this year, which beginning June 10 will have migrated from its winter abode in the Town Centre’s main concourse to the mall parkade, marking the official start to the summer season.

The year-round market has been around for more than 40 years since it first took off in 1977. With between 25 to 28 tables registered for the market, president Jeanette Ens was happy with the variety of vendors she has for the year.

“Like we say, rain or shine, we’ve got you covered,” she said.

Some vendors have been around for some time, including Brenda Newton, Ens’s sister, who has been coming to the market for 17 years to showcase the thousands of perennials she grows in her garden.

“What makes a table (is a) variety of things not just one, at least for me,” she said.

Others like Sharlotte Neufeld and her husband Darcy are relatively new players to the farmer’s market game.

Last year, the two bought a home in Lake Metigoshe that came with its very own a meat shop.

The Neufelds had some experience making farmer’s sausage and decided later that summer to see how well they could do selling it at various markets, including the one in Brandon.

Since starting their business Bar Y Meats, the couple has tried their hands at a number of different products, from pork chops, ribs, bacon and hamburgers.

“We really liked the family dynamic,” Sharlotte said. “So we thought we’d give it a try.”

Zelda Kinniburgh started her jewelry wholesale company Oooh! Shiny Things in Brandon back in May 2016, with the goal of making her products as affordable as possible

Today, she carries products from approximately 200 jewelers across Canada and the U.S., with the average ring or necklace selling for $33, she said.

The market is an almost guaranteed source of income for her, but one of the things Kinniburgh said she enjoys most about the market is getting to know the other vendors and the customers they serve.

“The traffic and flow of the crowd here, it’s a small trickle, but I’m always busy,” she said.

But getting a good foothold at a farmer’s market takes time and effort, even for those like Durham who have been involved with it for some time, especially with an unpredictable growing season.

One year, Durham may not have any beans to sell. Another year, he may not have any corn.

This year, Durham started the spring with a healthy supply of asparagus. But on top of all that, he has to keep an eye out for wildlife and jokes that his neighbours are a coyote, cougar and a bear.

“I take my licks,” he said. “Some years I do good, some years I don’t.”

And even though his methods may be harder work, Durham wouldn’t change a thing. “Everything (is) done the way it should be,” he said.

Moving into her 19th year with the farmer’s market, Ens knows it’s not easy work getting your products ready and bringing them to market each week, but in some ways it’s a good problem to have.

“We always say if we’re tired and we’ve had three hours of sleep prior to a market day, we tend to blame our customers,” Ens said. “Because if you’re busy, the customers make us do this … That means we have great customers.”

Since it does take time to establish yourself, Ens said she hopes vendors don’t give up after two or three days. But after 40 years worth of markets, if there is one thing vendors can rely on, it’s a solid customer base.

“Whether it is that one lady who loves baby carrots, or little tiny baby tomatoes, or someone who likes huge parsnips in the fall, everybody has their favourite vegetables, but it’s rewarding to see people appreciating the work that you have put into it,” Ens said.