Staples Area Farmers Market has an especially healthy connection

Don’t be concerned if you see doctors and nurses milling about the Staples Area Farmers Market.

The SAFM has, you see, a special connection with the medical community.

The farmers market is located on the Lakewood Health Systems grounds and Lakewood also offers an incentive for the medical staff - doctors, nurses and other Lakewood employees - to purchase health foods.

Aimee Wiese in the Community Health Coordinator for Lakewood and is the one the staff sees when they first come to the market. They give her $5 and she gives them a $10 voucher for their market purchases. The staff, however, must purchase healthy items like fruits, vegetables, eggs, meats or honey. They can’t purchase breads or sweets with the voucher.

It’s a great system and connection between Lakewood and the market, said Lois Detloff, president of the SAFM.

It’s also a great location for the public with plenty of parking and easy to access vendor stands.

There are usually 12 to 18 vendors at the farmers market, she said which started in mid-May.

It might be early in the season, but vendors already had a wealth of vegetables to choose from.

Russell Kleinschmidt of Kleinschmidt Farms has a high tunnel and was selling kohlrabi amongst other vegetables at his stand. He is also growing radishes and romaine in the high tunnel right now.

Kleinschmidt has a farm stand at his Staples farm at 44910 County 21. He also offers grass fed beef, has free range chickens and has eggs for sale.

Perry Cuperus offers farm fresh eggs.

The Sebeka producer has around 200 laying hens and some of the eggs are quite colorful. While he offers white shelled eggs from his California Whites, some are also brown and speckled. Don’t let the color of the eggs determine your purchase. The eggs are the same inside. And they’re good.

How does he like to prepare them? Cuperus said his wife purchased a microwavable stoneware small pot with a hollow handle and a hole in the cover. She will put the eggs, veggies and cheese in the pot, microwave it for a minute and a half, and have a perfect omelet.

He had the pot at the farmers market along with his fluffy mechanical chicken that lays eggs. Ask him for a demonstration It’s a hit!

Caperus has served in the military and has some interesting stories of working in Afghanistan and Bosnia. Thank you for your service, Perry! And thanks for offering such a great item at the farmers market!

Bonnie Bartos doesn’t have food items for sale, but, through her GrubDudz products, “provides an acceptable way to play with your food!”

Bartos sells cozies for microwavable bowls including one for larger bowls. She sews aprons with fun vegetable and fruit filled prints and long oven mitts.

“I have scars on my arms from burning myself as I’ve taken things out of the oven,” she said. “So I made longer sleeves on the mitts to cover more of the arm.”

She also sews bags including some she’s lined with vinyl.

To see more of Bartos’ items, check out her website at ww.grubdudz.com.

Delores Leimbach has a variety of maple syrup offerings - all syrup gathered from trees on land she and her husband, Thomas, rent.

This year, they gathered around 6,000 gallons of sap, a good year of production, she said. They cook the sap over wood flame and offer a variety of sizes of syrups including a gallon jug! Good, local syrup!

At the Staples Area Farmers Market, she also had bedding plants and rhubarb.

During the season, the leinbach family also offers a variety of produce and jams.

Another vendor, Allen Holmquist of Clarissa, had asparagus ready for sale at the market. He also had bedding plants -petunias and geraniums - for sale. He also offered rhubarb and pickles.

Holmquist also has beef and pork for sale. Cutomers can give him a call for the farm raised meats.

Deb Erickson of Verndale has two high tunnels and will have melons, squashes, strawberries and tomatoes for sale as the season progresses. She also raises beans peppers, lettuces and kale.

Her caramel rolls looked delish at her stand as well as other baked goods and bedding plants.

Burt Scripture from Motley raises bees and has a variety of honey filled vessels for sale including a small honey bear which holds 2 ounces of honey - sold for $2! He has around 37 hives. His bees stay in the area and don’t winter elsewhere. he said.

While most of the honey he sold was a light golden color, he also has dark colored honey produced from buckwheat He takes some of his hives to a Battle Lake area buckwheat field where the bees collect pollen from the crop and produce the dark colored honey.

Burt and his wife also maintain 3 acres of gladiolas which will be offered for sale later in the season.

Lois Detloff is the president of the Staples Area Farmers Market. She’s been part of the market for more than 12 years, she said. Throughout the season, she raises and offers for sale a variety of vegetables, but, at this early time of the market season, sells home canned salsas in mild, medium and hot plus baked goods.

Detloff also sells makes pre-baked frozen pizza crusts.

She encourages people to visit the Staples Area Farmers Market. Everything is locally grown prouced and has a great nutritious value.

For more information, contact The Local Growers in the comment section below.