JACKSON – With summer headed our way, the first weekly township Farmers Market showcased freshly grown vegetables and other local favorites like honey, poultry, lemonade, flowers, body creams and a variety of other items.
The Farmers Market that debuted at the Justice Complex field will run 2 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays until September 4. The location of the event however is expected to change to Johnson Park. Council President Jennifer Kuhn that will allow for less traffic congestion and more space.
This marks the first time the township has held a Farmers Market in the community. It is a project by the Recreation Department which is now a division under the Department of Public Works. Recreation Director Anthony Horta was present for the first day of the event and was pleased with the large turnout.
Jennifer Perkel, founder of Hear Here which is “dedicated to curating branded market events that build community,” was also happy to see so many people come out on what was a perfect weather day for the inaugural event. She runs Farmers Markets in other communities as well including nearby Howell Township, Hazlet, Sea Bright, Parsippany, Atlantic Highlands and Allenhurst.
“We have a dozen vendors here and as the market grows and progresses through the season and people become aware of us it will grow,” she said. “This is not only the first year but our first day and we will have more vendors and having different vendors switching in and out as well.”
Perkel added that one of the farms is from nearby New Egypt “and we have Cousin’s Lobster from Maine today that is our special opening day food truck. We have Latin Bites here as a seasonal vendor. We have fresh cut flowers from Grab and Go bouquets today, sweet and savory baked goods, a coffee and tea vendor, honey and a couple of crafters.”
“We also have a Jackson vendor with chicken and quail eggs and poultry so we’ll have a little bit of everything here today. We’ll have more farmers, we’ll have pickles, we have fresh lemonade,” she told one early visitor.
Perkel who runs seven farmers markets in the state, five of which are in Monmouth County, was happy that within 15 minutes of the market’s opening, she counted 119 people within the park area. Perkel said she thought the Justice Complex Park area was “a bit of a food desert for the police department and I figured a lot of people like to shop and eat local and we’d catch them on their way out of work but I am watching the traffic flow here.”
“Every town should have its own small farmer’s market. I say small because it should be mostly local people. We do have some that aren’t local like Cousin’s that are Freehold but that is somewhat local,” Perkel added. “It should be a meeting place like a Main Street in town where people can come and enjoy each other’s company. You have a place for food and a place to come for a reason.”
Lee Lee’s Lemons served some sweet and tart lemonade. “I have homemade lemonade, limeade. I started doing farmers markets about a year ago. I did it because I love lemonade, we never have a family function without lemonade and I like hanging out and meeting people,” Alicia Bada of Pemberton Township said.
Koltuks Honey was another popular gathering point for attendees. Nick and Maya Koltuck provide honey from local farms. “We have been doing this in our own country before we came here,” Maya Koltuck said.
The couple is originally from the Republic of Moldova, a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, that is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. “We have different types of honey and bees wax candles here today. We do all of Jen’s events.”
Farmingdale Road poultry vendor Jan and Len Haring featured chicken and quail products from their Jackson farm. They also own Sunriser Kennels. “We have quail eggs, regular eggs and we raise meat chicken. They are USDA certified and raised right on my own property. I’ll be here every other week.”
A variety of vegetables were brought by the daughter of the owner of Krowicki’s Farm (Christina Stone) in Plumsted. “I took it over and I’ve always been told I’m stubborn so it’s now called Ornery Acres now.” She and her young daughter Madison was there to help her.
