By Gordon Anderson | Photos by Sara Coffin
There’s fresh pork, ranging from link sausage to ribs and pork chops. There’s chemical free natural compost. There’s all kinds of staple vegetables — think broccoli, carrots, and more — as well as more exotic ones like Hakeuri (sweet turnips) and Mizuna, a Japanese mustard green that are difficult to find in bigger locales.
And they’re all available every Saturday between April and October from 9 a.m. to noon at the North Carolina Cooperative Extension at 2420 Tramway Road.
“It’s still quite small, with about five or six vendors showing up every week, but what the market lacks in variety, it more than makes up for in quality,” says Sara Coffin, who has been working with the Sanford Farmers Market in recent months to help boost the organization’s small but more than respectable profile.
“Every product sold is 100 percent local. There’s no buying and re-selling of produce or other products. Everything available was produced in Lee or a surrounding county. I think there’s this belief that you have to go to Raleigh to source quality meat and product, when in reality it’s right in our backyard,” Coffin added.
And there’s plenty of room for growth. Any farmer living within a 75-mile radius of Sanford is welcome to submit an application (it costs a measly $25) to be a vendor. To get an application, visit lee.ces.ncsu.edu/sanford-farmers-market/.
In addition to being open on Saturdays, the market’s vendors set up at the Lee County Enrichment Center at 1615 S. 3rd St. from 10 a.m. to noon on Tuesdays beginning in July.
AT THE MARKET
Just a few examples of the offerings at the farmers’ market every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon at the North Carolina Cooperative Extension at 2420 Tramway Road in Sanford:
- Pork from the Hargrove Family Farm located on Pyrant Road in the Tramway Area of Lee County, who raise antibiotic-free, pastured pigs and produce sausage, ribs, bone-in pork chops and more.
- A whole bevy of veggies from Field Sparrow Farm, which is located on N.C. 87 in southern Lee County
- Chemical-free compost from Larry’s All Natural Compost to help your garden grow bigger and better. Larry’s All Natural Compost is located on Farrell Road.
