Farmers Market brings fresh produce, homemade goods to downtown Havana

This past Saturday, April 23 was a warm, sunny spring day in Havana, perfect weather for the monthly Farmer’s Market.

The event was held on the grounds of the Planter’s Exchange on Northwest 2nd Street, in downtown Havana, and ran from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Local and visiting vendors set up stalls and peddled a variety of wares, everything from the fresh produce one might expect at a farmer’s market to clothing, jewelry and home-made crafts.

Pat Gordon offered a selection of home-made jewelry, flower arrangements, and photography at her stall.

Jim Doner was one of the local farmers who set up a booth at the Havana Farmers Market last weekend. Doner sold a selection of his produce.

Gordon is a first-time vendor at the Havana Farmer’s Market, but she sells her crafts at other locations in the area, including museum gift shops and boutiques.

Jim Doner, a local farm owner who mainly sells his goods online, was also a first time seller at this market.

Doner set up a colorfully decorated table loaded with fresh onions, cauliflower, and greens.

At another stall, Gonzalo Godinez of Tallahassee offered stone-ground grits for sale.

“We don’t de-germ our corn,” explains Godinez. “So we try to give you fiber in it, which helps your digestive system. All of what we do is artisanal. We do it by hand, the sifting, even the labeling and packaging. Everything that we do, we try to do it organically.”

Jennifer Lacognata of Quincy and family at her booth for Bantam Bay and Company.

Jennifer Lacognata, a Quincy resident, had a booth representing Bantam Bay and Company, which offered a variety of delicious looking foods to shoppers.

“This is our second time at this event,” Lacognata says. “We just moved up to this area last year.”

“We have pretzels, soft pretzel bites, bagels, jellies, jams, cakes, concentrates, all kinds of pastas, infused pastas like a chardonnay pasta or a chocolate pasta,” Lacognata adds. “You name it. [We] keep expanding.”

Lina Hurtado of Quincy represented Mali’s Eco Ideas, a local business that recycles tires into colorful art and useful items like planters, bird feeders, pet beds, and furniture.

Alyssa White and her daughter smile for the camera at White’s stall, which offered bow-ties, jewelry and other crafts.

“We try to use as much as we can from every tire that we get,” explains Hurtado.

This is the third time Mali’s Eco Ideas has participated in the Havana Farmer’s Market.

“We live in Quincy, just 10 minutes away from here,” Hurtado says. “So it’s the perfect venue for us.”

Theresa Stopyak, an independent consultant for Norwex, ran a booth for the international company, which was founded in Norway.

“We are all about eliminating toxins in the home,” Stopyak explains. “So cleaning with just cloth and water or options that are safe. No more locking up the chemicals.”

Fresh produce was not the only thing for sale at the weekend's farmers market in Havana. A selection of delectable cupcakes were offered by Shellen Scott.

This variety of local vendors, and the shoppers they draw provide an essential growth to local commerce in Havana, especially as local businesses begin to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Farmer’s Market has been hosted by Havana Main Street since 2020, and was recently moved to its current venue at the Planter’s Exchange following requests from participating vendors for more space and better placement downtown.

Stephen Klein - Gadsden County News Service

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