Key West farmers market

 

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

When the Key West Green Market kicked off a year ago in Bayview Park, organizer Jason Hershin had 12 vendors sign up for the twice-a-month farmers market.

 

What a difference a year makes. The market is now up to 55 vendors and has increased from twice a month to every Thursday at Bayview Park, from 9 am to 2 pm.

 

Hershin signed a new one-year lease with Key West city officials in March that doubled the number of market days in Key West every month. In addition to the park space, the city will provide utilities, trash bags and disposal. In return, the market went from a trial experiment to a full-fledged project, with a monthly lease payment of $2,500, up from $500 in its first year.

 

It’s a big bump up in rent but Hershin said he doesn’t object to paying it.

 

“I don’t mind paying a couple of thousand dollars a month because I have such a great time and I can make a few bucks,” he said in a telephone interview with Konk Life March 30. “It’s a big thank you to the residents of Key West. They asked for it. They supported it. It’s a real treat to go there.”

 

Hershin also just opened another farmers market in Marathon on March 25, which will operated on Wednesdays from 11 am to 6 pm. That market is at Mile Market 50 next to the Gulfside Village Plaza. His company also has an established market in Islamorada on Mondays.

 

The vendors at all the markets range from organic vegetable farmers to coffee makers to bakers. Prepared foods like Key West gumbo are also offered for sale.

 

Hershin said it was difficult to convince farmers and other vendors to make the long trip from the mainland to Key West for the first farmers market. But time, again, solved that problem, “Now we’re in our second year and we are so busy, the vendors are saying, ‘I’ll go every week,’” Hershin said.

“The Licensee has made the investment necessary to create and manage a successful Green Market that has been very well received and patronized by the local community. They have donated space on an ongoing basis to local non-profits including Womankind, the Wild Bird Center and SOS,” said Key West Senior Property Manager Marilyn Wilbarger in a memo to City Manager Jim Scholl regarding the extension of Hershin’s license.

 

Vendors at the Key West Green Market include some local companies, as well as farmers and other producers from Marathon, the Lower Keys and Miami.

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