M i ss i ss i ppi Far m er ’s M ar ket an d G en uine M i s s i s s i ppi Store: B r in gin g o ut t h e B est of t h e St ate BY BRANDI PERRY
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id you know that in Downtown Jackson, just outside the fairgrounds is a farmers’ market that offers more than 18,000 square feet? At the Mississippi Farmers Market, farmers from all over the state bring in their best farm-fresh produce. The all-weather building that the farmers market calls home was built with 32 stalls and roll-up doors. Visitors feel as though they have stepped back in time when they journey through the market with any fruit or vegetable they can imagine, or the freshest milk and coffee money can buy. Growers and farmers of all sizes bring their bounty to the state capital.
40 • April/May 2022
Depending on the time of year and what is readily available, what visitors may find at the Farmers Market changes from month to month. It is obvious that the winter months may be a little slim on products, but you can guarantee hothouse tomatoes and delicious fresh cabbage. In April, there will be a huge increase in the product variety, including, green and pole beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kohlrabi and English peas. The month with the best production in the spring is May which brings blueberry, muscadines, peaches, plums, strawberries, sweet corn, pickling cucumbers, slicing cucumbers, English peas, Irish Potatoes and greenhouse tomatoes. For the summer, June leads the way with green, pole and butter beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cantaloupe, sweet corn, eggplant, turnip, mustard and collard greens, in addition to all types of pepper, squash and tomatoes. In the dead of winter, many people assume nothing is sold at the farmers market, but that could not be any further from the truth. The Mississippi Farmers Market offers a very Merry Christmas that includes visits with Santa Claus, vendor giveaways and door prizes. The vendors and the Genuine Mississippi store offer gifts for that special someone in your life. In addition, you can also buy your Christmas tree from a Mississippi Tree Farm where Leyland cypress and Eastern red cedar are the stars of the show. Many of the participants in the farmers’ market are a part of the Mississippi Certified Farmers Market program. This program is a voluntary branding program created and administered by the Mississippi Department of Agriculture and Commerce to promote and identify a marketplace for Mississippi grown fruits, vegetables, plant materials and other products made and/or processed in the state. The primary objectives of a Mississippi Certified Market are to offer a diverse product selection, attract a large and repeating customer
