Farmers’ market celebrates seven years

Ennis Farmers’ Market will celebrate its seventh anniversary on Friday, July 29 and plans are already in place to make it a memorable occasion.
Held every Friday in the car park in Upper Market Street from 8.30am to 2pm, Ennis Farmers’ Market encompasses 22 stalls featuring an array of local produce.
Next Friday, in addition to the regular fare on offer, including fresh vegetables, plants, flowers, eggs, baked goods, preserves and jams, local cheeses, organic meat, herbal remedies and home made chocolate, there will also be a series of demonstrations.
At 11am, stallholder Liz Griffith will show the public how to make butter the old-fashioned way, using a churn, while at 12 noon, renowned herbalist Vivienne Campbell will demonstrate how to make Meadowsweet Cordial (as seen on RTÉ’s Corrigan Cooks Naturally). Vivienne will also include a talk on the therapeutic properties of Meadowsweet.
Other events planned throughout the morning include children’s entertainment and a hazel-weaving demonstration. There will also be a display of farm animals and fowl including chickens, ducks, geese, pigs and goats and a chance to see goat milking.
There will also be a sample and taster table for those who fancy a delicious free nibble or two.
Anyone who buys an item from one of the stallholders on the day will be entered into a draw to win one of seven hampers, representing a cross section of the produce available at the market. The draw for the hampers will take place at 1.30pm at the market on the day.
Many of the original founders of the Ennis Farmers’ Market continue to sell at the market each week.  Amongst those who are celebrating seven years in business at the market this year are first chairperson Jason Horner, who sells fresh, seasonal vegetables; Anne Foley, who sells a range of home-baked goods; Dave Smith, cheese monger; Caroline O’Connor, who sells fresh vegetables, eggs and preserves; Peter and Kath Wright, who sell eggs, organic herbs and preserves and Chris Marsh who sells vegetables, fruit and herb plants.
Reflecting on the seven years to date, Jason Horner commented, “The market has evolved organically over the years to the point where we are now at our limit size wise, with 22 stalls. Each stallholder is allocated around 15ft of space. We run the market along co-operative lines and are very democratic. We usually have a quick meeting at the end of each market and make any decisions that need to be made collectively. In general, it works very well and there is a great sense of camaraderie.” 
Current chairperson Dominic Lyons is relatively new to the market, having traded there for three years.  He sells vegetables, olive oil and salt.
According to Dominic, “The market has grown in response to demand. Consumers in Ennis are fairly traditional in what they purchase. For example, with vegetables, we find that the demand is for staples such as cabbage, carrots, parsnips and potatoes. Basically it’s the vegetables that our customers, many of whom are retired, know and like. Every week, we hear comments from our customers about how our vegetables taste as good as they remember vegetables tasting years ago, before mass market produce arrived.”
An interesting fact about many of the producers who sell at the Ennis Farmers’ Market, including Dominic Lyons, is that their smallholdings comprise as little as an acre or less.