Hillsdale County Farmers Market reopens for 2024 season

HILLSDALE — As summer comes to Michigan, residents can once again stop by downtown Hillsdale to enjoy the Hillsdale County Farmers Market.

The Farmers Market, which has been a staple in the Hillsdale community since 2008, is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays. It offers dozens of local businesses, artisans and vendors the opportunity to sell their goods to the community.

Kari Amstutz owns The Clove & Cotton Co., which sells handcrafted cosmetics, soaps and more at the market.

Amstutz said she is excited to be back at the market every Saturday.

“It’s been a great year so far and I’m excited to continue to keep being a part of it every Saturday,” Amstutz said. “It also seems that everyone is very excited about it starting up again. I love talking and interacting with all the people of Hillsdale.”

Ahna Decker, owner of the Taste & See Bakery, said she looks forward to market day every week.

“I work hard during the week to prepare for the market in addition to selling baked goods out of my home,” Decker said. “Saturdays are tremendously rewarding.”

She said the market has been extremely successful for her business.

“It has been so fun to engage with people from the community. They have approached my booth with big smiles, eager to try a sample and get some goodies to go. Some grab coffee from Ad Astra and then come by to get some strawberry shortcake scones as their breakfast. Others come for a loaf of bread to have with dinner or a bag of cookies to bring to a party,” she said. “I sold out of all of my baked goods on the first day of the Farmers Market despite the windy and chilly weather. I increased the amount of bread and scones I sold the second week and still sold out.”

Decker hopes to continue to provide more products to the community every week, but has found the last few weeks already very encouraging for her business.

“I'll increase the number of items I sell this week and add more variety until I'm able to find the balance between what I can produce and what the community wants to buy,” she said. “I had repeat customers this week which was really encouraging. It's fun to hear what my customers think of the baked goods they bought and listen to their requests for future weeks.”

Last year, the Farmers Market shut down Howell Street in downtown Hillsdale after renovations to the Hillsdale County Courthouse derailed plans to host the market in the parking lot.

For the 2024 season, the Farmers Market is once again meeting in the Hillsdale County Courthouse parking lot.

Emma De Nooy-Miller said that she is grateful it is no longer on Howell Street.

“I enjoy how they moved the farmers market so it isn’t shutting down a whole street,” De Nooy-Miller said. “And the new setup actually made it easier to see every booth.”

She added that she is excited for when more fresh produce comes into season and will be available at the market.

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In the meantime, vendors are selling plant seedlings, some in-season fruits and vegetables, baked goods and hundreds of other locally sourced and handmade items.

Decker said she and all the other vendors are grateful for the community’s support.

“We have some incredibly creative, skillful, hard-working artisans and farmers with a huge variety of goods. There is truly something for everybody,” Decker said. “I'm excited to be a part of such an amazing market in an incredible community. I look forward to the weeks to come!”

— Elyse Apel is a correspondent for The Hillsdale Daily News. She can be reached by email at ehawkins@hillsdale.edu.

This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Hillsdale County Farmers Market reopens for 2024 season