I just got this information, and thought I would pass it on in case anyone here is interested. The Clayton Downtown Development Association will be hosting a meeting this Thursday evening for anyone interested in participating in the establishment of a Farmer's / Open Air Market in Clayton. All are welcome!! With gas prices going up and up, consumer demand for natural and locally produced products trending up, and food prices in the grocery stores going up, we believe the time is right for a direct-sell farm-to-consumer open market in Downtown Clayton. Please pass this announcement on to anyone who might be interested, especially all the farmer's & big gardeners you know. (Look for an upcoming article in the Clayton paper.) WHAT: Organizational Meeting to create a Clayton Farmers Market in downtown. WHEN: April 24 from 6:30 PM to 8:00 PM WHERE: The Clayton Center, 111 E Second Street, Clayton in Room GS-223 WHO: Clayton residents with a desire to organize a Farmers Market INFO: For more information call Bruce Naegelen at 553-1545. To be clear, the Clayton Downtown Development Association (DDA) will only be involved in hosting the organizational meetings for a separate autonomous citizen's group that will establish, organize, manage and maintain a farmer's market in Clayton. Neither the Town nor the DDA will be running this thing. The farmer's market organization will be built from scratch and it will be up to the citizens and farmers who participate in these organizational meetings to take leadership positions, work together, and make decisions about the how, when, who, what, where, etc. of a local market. We think this will be a great addition to downtown for all the citizens of the Clayton area and for farmers and specialty growers in the region. It is an EXCELLENT opportunity to get involved in the local community, no matter if you're just a citizen who wants a market in town or if you're a farmer or master gardener looking forward to having a local place to sell your products: meats, fish, eggs, dairy, herbs, honey, fruits, berries, grapes, greens, root crops, legumes, squashes, melons, grains, plants, spices, candies, canned/dried products, handicrafts ... whatever!!! Like I said above, ALL are welcome!!
Where do they propose to have this farmers market? The town officials are pushing for a condo/office complex on the large vacant lot at Main and Lombard Street.
I'm sorry, I do not have any information other than what I posted above. Since I'm not a producer of anything that might be sold at a farmers market, I didn't follow up on it, but I thought some here might be interested, that's why I posted the information here. Perhaps you could call the person listed for more information, and let the rest of us know where it might be? My interest will be in buying, not selling.
They've got an open air market up here somewhere (maybe even in Pittsboro). Our friend grows her own veggies, has honey AND some plants. I should go sometime.