State Farmers Market opens for business at new location

The South Carolina State Farmers Market is officially open for business at its new location in Lexington County.

Although it may not be completely finished until spring 2011, the new market is open to the public and already offering seasonal goodies. It’s more than twice the size of the site on Bluff Road at 174 acres.

“The transition is going really well from Bluff Road to here. There’s a lot of vendors coming in and construction going on,” said Stephen Hudson, spokesman for the S.C. Department of Agriculture.

Returning vendors at the market seem to agree.

“It’s a lot better than Bluff Road. There’s just a lot more space and it’s easier to get to, and it’s really clean unlike the other location which could get pretty dirty,” said Sarah Cassidy of Jacobs Produce.

The old market on Bluff Road closes Oct. 29. The new farmers market is located on U.S. 321 and is within  two miles of Interstates 26 and 77.

The new market is opening in phases, with the S.C. Department of Agriculture Laboratory and Consumer Services facility, S.C. Certified Grown farmer’s sheds and administration buildings being built.

There are now private areas for the major wholesale vendors including V.B. Hook & Co. Inc., Senn Brothers Inc. and Supersod Inc.

The farmers shed section is owned and operated by the S.C. Department of Agriculture and will provide a place for South Carolina farmers to rent space on a daily or seasonal basis to sell their products.

Aside from having more space, the market will offer some new amenities.There will be a greenhouse section, an out-of-state produce building, and a 150-seat exhibition kitchen for cooking demonstrations. The kitchen can also be used for cooking lessons or rented out for birthdays or catering events.

The market will feature a 400-seat outdoor amphitheater, a restaurant called Judy’s, a recreational vehicle park, a bakery and a children’s playground. The market will have specific children’s events, as well, like educational tours of the market, lessons on agriculture, farming and animals and events in the amphitheater like movies at the market.

“We’ll never be totally done. This is an ever evolving process and we will be developing this market for several years to come,” said Joe Numberger, director of operations at the farmers market.

Numberger said there have been some bumps along the way. The economy, the recession and some bad weather slowed many projects.

“We had extremely bad weather at the end of last year and beginning of this year. One of the developers told me we received as much rain in the last six months as we usually get in a year,” he said.

When building the new market, Numberger said, a lot of research went into the final layout. He said the developers looked at the old market and tried to determine how things could be done better.

“They looked all around the country in New York at Chelsea Market, initiatives in California, Asheville, Atlanta and a lot of farmers markets to make this one cutting-edge and state-of-the art,” he said.

This weekend hosted the first big event, the Midlands Fall Plant and Flower Festival. There were local vendors with pumpkins, different types of flowers, home décor and the Clemson Master Gardeners on hand to give gardening advice.

The event is similar to the fall and spring festivals that take place at farmers markets in Florence and Greenville each year.

Hudson encourages everyone to buy locally-grown plants and produce to support farmers in the state and to get the freshest products. He said there are more than 100 farmers markets in South Carolina alone.

“There is a shed here designed just for local farmers so they have a place to sell their product,” he said.