Family tradition and fresh produce make these local markets stand out.

Family tradition and fresh produce make these local markets stand out.
By NANCILYNN GATTA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
IF YOUR BACKYARD GARDEN FAILED THIS year because of the unusually cold and rainy spring and summer, you can still eat locally grown produce, available at Mahoning Valley farmers markets. The lush green fields provide the freshness and nutrition you crave, and the farmers' expertise has helped salvage a disastrous growing season.
Many farmers markets are supplied by family farms, which grow the produce behind the store.
"It's a family-owned farm. It's been in the family since 1926. My husband's family, five generations," Sharon Grover said. Grover and her husband, Steve, own Ridgeview Farm Market in Middlefield.
Started by daughters
But not all farmers markets are passed down from parent to child. Sometimes, it's the offspring who pass on the legacy of the store to their parents. Gasper's Garden opened for business in 1983. The daughters of owners Mary Ann and Paul Gasper originated the idea of a farmers market at their location on South Range Road near Salem.
"When they were younger, they said that their cousins down in Dayton had all the opportunity to make money 'cause they got to have a paper route or baby-sit. They lived in town," Paul Gasper said. "My daughters initially wanted to have a source of money. We started out with raising strawberries, and it blew completely out of control."
The Gaspers' daughters are no longer involved with the farmers market, however.
"They're all gone. They all got a good education here. They know enough not to farm. Pretty much manual labor," Gasper said.
Sometimes a child moves to an urban dwelling and then returns to the farm. Dave Reash of Reash's Farm Market in Columbiana did just that.
After completing his commitment to the military, Reash worked at Firestone Tire and Rubber in Akron for 10 years. When he lost his job through downsizing, he returned to the area and the life he knew as a child. Reash's Farm Market, the free-standing store he opened 17 years ago, sells produce from Columbiana and Mahoning county farmers, including local Amish farmers.
"When I was a kid, my grandfather and my dad and my uncles had a potato farm. They raised potatoes until the mid-'80s. We even had a roadside stand up in Unity. That's where we lived. We also had our own truck garden," Reash said.
Impact of rain
The rainy weather has affected the farm markets in two ways. On one hand, some of their crops have not come to fruition. As Paul Gasper stated, "most plants do not like their feet wet, except for cranberries and rice." On the other hand, they have seen an increased demand for sweet corn.
"We pick our own sweet corn fresh every day. That's our main seller, especially right now. People must not have sweet corn at all in their garden, because we sold out again today," Grover said.
Farmers market customers are loyal, visiting frequently during the season. These customers do not belong to any single age group, but Reash has found that his shoppers are slightly older.
"A lot of our people are older people. I think they grew up going to roadside stands," Reash said. He also stated that probably 40 percent of his business is from Pennsylvania because it is just across the Columbiana County border.
The draw for customers
Laura Heestand, a regular customer of Gasper's Gardens, bought tomatoes and other produce as part of the ingredients for her husband's birthday celebration. At one time, Heestand had a garden but found that it was easier to buy from a farmers market.
Many of the shoppers at farmers markets tout the freshness, health benefits and quality of the food that they are buying.
Peggy Geisman of Thompson, in Geauga County, traveled to Ridgeview Farm Market with a group of friends from an antique car club. She said she buys all her fruits and vegetables at these stands and stores to enjoy the freshness and to support family farmers.
She also is exposing a new generation of shoppers to the benefits of farmers-market foods: She takes her grandkids along when she shops.
Because of their commitment, farmers market customers are willing to pay a little more for their produce than they would at the local chain grocery store.
"Sometimes they ask us about the price, but when we explain to them what our cost is, they accept that," Grover said.
Reash affirmed that sometimes quality costs more. "I buy the best I can. I found that buying the best you can, people will pay for it if you have the quality."
August is the peak season for most of the produce in the area, especially sweet corn, cantaloupes and peaches.