Five months ago, Ruth Schill left West Fargo to attend a farmers' market in Minot, N.D., to sell her machine-embroidered dishtowels.
When she returned, she had a mission.
"I went out (there) in March, and I decided that West Fargo should be big enough to bring growers and buyers together," said Shill, founder of Farmers' Market and Beyond in West Fargo. "That's when I decided to find a place for a market here."
But finding a place wasn't easy. Since she had no place of her own to use, she pitched her idea to the Chamber of Commerce and from there, the West Fargo Park Board joined in.
"We've really just liked getting into this," said Barb Erbstoesser, executive director for the West Fargo Park District. "There's numerous markets in the area, but in the first 20 years of being here in the area, it's really the first public market I've seen."
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With the Park District involved, space for the market was no longer an issue, but finding vendors with something to sell and advertising the market took a little time.
It found a home at the Veterans Memorial Arena.
"I know a lot of vendors, so it was just a matter of contacting them and convincing them it was a good thing to do," Schill said.
The market first opened Aug. 2 and occurs every Thursday from 4:30 to 7 p.m. In its first two weeks, the number has grown from six to nine vendors.
"We're running on a very limited budget this year," Erbstoesser said. "We are really depending on word-of- mouth."
Lori Luthi, whose husband is a beekeeper, joined with him to form Three Bears Honey, a company that specializes in homemade, 100 percent pure honey.
They do everything from housing the bees, maintaining their boxes and bottling and labeling process.
"It started out as a hobby," Luthi said. "But now it's turning into a family business."
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The business's products include honey combs, raw honey, pure honey, whipped honey and 100 percent bees wax candles.
"I think my husband would like to see it grow," she said. "We've been thinking about getting on the Internet."
Cheryll Moen of Mayville, N.D., runs Rendezvous Candy, which sells candies and chocolate-covered strawberries. Mainly, she's known for her "healthy" fudge that contains no hydrogenated ingredients, which are primarily used to lengthen shelf life of products.
Her candy comes in multiple specialty flavors such as B-52, banana split, pumpkin pie, Snickers, mud slide, blueberry, pomegranate and jalapeno - a flavor she discovered on accident.
"My booth was between two jalapeno booths once ... and I thought they might taste good with white chocolate."
Another vender, Eleanor Infeld, sells a variety of knit articles: afghans, dish clothes, towels, kids' T-shirts, flip-flops, scrubbies and skirts. She and her husband, Robert, come to the market to sell their homemade pieces.
"We do it for the fun of it," Eleanor Infeld said. "It's something to do when you're retired."
The Infelds have five machines that they use, and she attends knitting and embroidery classes every month.
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"It's just fun, fun, fun," Infeld said.
Fran Hagen recently stopped by the farmers' market on her way home from work.
"I'm gardening the easy way," Hagen said as she picks up her bags of carrots, potatoes, sweet corn and potatoes. "I'm really thrilled we have this market - it's convenient. When I think of the opportunity to buy from local growers, I like to do that."
If you go
- What: Farmers' Market and Beyond
- When: 4:30 to 7 p.m. Thursdays through September
- Where: Veterans Memorial Arena, 1201 9th St. E., West Fargo
- Why: Buy or sell fresh bread, produce, candy or crafts by local vendors
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- Info: Call (701) 433-5360.
