Earlier this week, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack declared Aug. 3-9 “National Farmers Market Week.” Across the nation, the USDA is celebrating the thousands of farmers markets, as well as farmers who make them possible and the communities that host them.

On Tuesday, the Festhalle Market Platz was brisk with business as buyers and sellers came together.

The Festhalle was filled with the sounds of a true farmer’s market, from both buyers, asking local farmers how much is a basket of okra, and sellers, inviting people to come and sample half an apple or a cup of salted peanuts. In between, the whistles of passing trains punctuated the Festhalle’s ambiance.

Jimmy Carter of Simcoe had brought bunches of tomatoes to sell. He said that until he started selling at the Festhalle four years ago, “I was raising more than I could eat.”

“I enjoy meeting people and returning customers, especially those that come back and say, that was a really good tomato,” Carter said.

Further down the row of vendors was the Clapp family of Jones Chapel. The Clapps were selling hand-made dish towels and clothing in addition to their various vegetables.

“We try to grow a little bit of everything,” A. J. Clapp said. A. J., the second oldest of his family’s eight children, was manning the table at the Festhalle.

A. J.’s mother Rebecca managed her younger children behind their table. She said her husband Richard’s father had a vegetable farm, and was the one who influenced her and Richard to begin their own farm two years ago.

“We used the same equipment that [the kids’] grandpa used,” she noted. “That was real special.”

Clapp added that her family’s veggies are grown without pesticides or herbicides.

“The ground is a living organism,” she said. “There’s life in it, and chemicals kill that out.”

William Burks of Burks Farm in Simcoe manned a nearby table full of tomatoes, okra, cantaloupes, and watermelons.

“We started coming [to the Festhalle] when the market was opened” seven years ago, Burks said, adding that this is the 20th year his family has been running their stand in Simcoe.

“I grew up on a farm row-cropping cotton, soybeans,” Burks said. “This is a lot different…I enjoy watching stuff grow, eating it, and trying to feed [others].”

Burks added that the new market manager, Ann Moore, “takes good care of us,” as Moore returned from running an errand to help prepare lunch for the sellers.

Moore “treats us all fairly,” Burks said.

“We have a great bunch of people,” Moore said, reciprocating Burks’ positivity. “It’s a very friendly atmosphere.”

Moore retired from her job at the North Alabama Horticulture Research Center and experiment station about a year ago. After being accepted for the marketing manager position earlier this year, she said she’s worked to “turn around” the Farmer’s Market, which she said had gotten stagnant.

Moore said her first priority is “doing what needs to be done for the farmers.”

“I want farmers to be able to benefit from this market,” she said, adding that there had been a growth in the number of farmers coming to sell this year compared to last year.

The Festhalle hosts the Farmer’s Market on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays from April through October and from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Other local sites besides the Festhalle have hosted farmer’s markets. This year, Dennis Marshall, the director of food and nutrition services at the Cullman Regional Medical Center, started a farm fresh produce sale every Monday at the hospital.

As a hospital striving to promote health among its employees, the farmer’s market initiative was partly for the doctors, nurses, and other workers for CRMC, Marshall said.

“A lot of [our employees] work 12-hour shifts,” he said. “A lot of them don’t get a chance to go to the farmer’s market, and I thought it would provide easier access to locally-grown produce for them, and it would be right outside the door.”

Marshall said he got in touch with Ann Moore, who referred Festhalle farmers to the Monday selling opportunity. The farmers sell in the parking lot from 3 p.m. to about 6:30 p.m., Marshall said.

“We’ve had as many as seven or eight [vendors], and we’ve had as few as one,” Marshall said. “I believe the ones that have come have been doing pretty good, or else they wouldn’t be coming back.”

“I would love to be able to offer it every year,” Marshall said, adding that he, Ann Moore, and the farmers would meet at the end of the growing season to evaluate how well the plan had gone together.

“The farmers are wonderful,” Ann Moore concluded of her work with the local produce market. “And I think that’s part of it, is getting along and just having a good time.”

Cullman Farmers’ Co-Op Market

The old Farmers’ market is open Monday through Saturday. Expected hours are from 6:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. — which varies with different farmers. It is located on Young St. NE between 1st and 2nd avenues. Just down from Sno Biz and Depot Park, with parking on Young St. NE.

Good Hope farmers’ market

Local Good Hope growers (only) will sell produce from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays at Hathcock Park in Good Hope. Vendor hopefuls may inquire at Good Hope City Hall.

Festhalle Market Platz

The Festhalle Market Platz will open their market for Spring hours, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. All new produce vendors must have a valid grower’s permit and all new crafts vendors must hand-make their crafts in accordance with market rules and guidelines. For  more information, contact Ann Moore at 256-734-9157.

Farm fresh produce sale

Cullman Regional Medical Center will be hosting a Farm Fresh Produce Sale every Monday beginning at 3 p.m. Local farmers will be selling seasonal fruits and vegetables in the front Main Hospital parking lot.

The next produce sell will be held on Monday, August 11. For more information, call 256-737-2141.