Farmers market offers residents fresh from the farm taste

On the third Saturday of the month, Hartsville residents can get fresh groceries around the corner. The farmer’s market is held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Gardner’s Fertilizer & Farm Supplies, 317 Railroad Ave. in Hartsville.

A small network of farms started with a large booth set up at each month’s Good Living Market on Cargill Way on the first Saturday of the month. About five months ago, the group began to offer the third Saturday market in response to customer demand in addition to the Good Living Market.

“People were trying to buy their groceries with us regularly, and once a month was not adequate,” said Charlie Caldwell, owner of Ovis Hill Farms and the coordinator of the markets.

Products available at the market include honey, cheeses, milks, meats, chicken, eggs and seasonal vegetables such as squash and potatoes.

“My primary focus is sustainability and localism,” Caldwell said. “Sustainability means environmentally sound, economically sound and good for the community.”

All the farms are in South Carolina, and many of the farmers represented at the market are certified organic or use organic practices.

“It’s a different way of doing it, an old way,” Caldwell said.

Area farms that regularly participate include Happy Cow Creamery of Pelzer, S.C. with grass-fed dairy products; Wil-Moore Farms near Camden with free range eggs, poultry and pastured pork; Bell Honey near Camden; Lone Palmetto Farm of Darlington County with Grade A raw goats milk and soaps; Oaklyn Plantation of Darlington County with free range chicken; Keegan-Felion Farm near Walterboro with free range poultry, eggs and pastured pork; Hill Creek Farm of Darlington County with grass-fed beef; Ovis Hill Farm of Darlington County with grass-fed lamb, beef, free range chicken and eggs and certified organic vegetables; Dickson’s Organics of Darlington County with certified organic vegetables; Gus’s Farm of Florence with vegetables grown using organic practices; and Our Local Foods of McClellanville with certified organic vegetables and free range eggs.

A new item for this Saturday’s market will be Happy Cow Creamery’s strawberry milk.

“It tastes like a strawberry milkshake,” Caldwell said. Samples will be available at the market.