Thursday morning at Temple’s Farmer’s Market the vendors’ tables were loaded down with the freshest vegetables and fruit. Those in the know arrived early to grab up what had just come into season.
By 8 a.m., Shirley Polach’s green beans were gone, but a few ears of bicolor corn remained.
Okra is another popular item, but it’s not ready to be picked, she said. Greens were available earlier, but it’s a cold-weather crop and it’s gone.
Polach grows her items east of Temple and has been selling produce at the farmer’s market for about four years.
Doyle Taylor has been a farmer’s market vendor for 20 years. On July 1, he’ll be celebrating his 93rd birthday.
Taylor and Phillip Rowell share a booth at the market where they sell what they harvest from Temple Community Garden plots.
This year Taylor and Rowell are growing cucumbers, onions, squash, cantaloupes, tomatoes, beans, black-eyed peas and three kinds of peppers. Taylor is predicting his cantaloupes will be ready in about 10 days.
The late frost this year did in many of the tomato plants, but Taylor said he’s harvested a decent size one that he shared with his wife.
“She got half and I got half,” he said. “It was real good.”
Rowell said he had been gardening for years, but only began coming to the market with Taylor about four years ago.
Bobby and Nealy Ross have a garden in Little River where they’re growing beets, cucumbers, squash and tomatoes. The tomatoes they had brought to Temple from their garden were green, but they were offering ripe ones from Gustine.
Mrs. Ross shared her recipe for the white scallop squash - peel and dust with corn meal and brown in a little olive oil. Add some sliced onion and then cover to steam.
“We like it with beans and cornbread,” she said.
Pat Jones of Dog Ridge Herbs had a table full of herbs and native plants, with an occasional exotic thrown in. Jones, president of the market, has been selling there for 16 years.
Jones is only too happy to share information about her plants - what needs sun, which ones prefer shade.
Mary Coppin, market manager, said she was pleased with the number of vendors, 15, who showed up for Thursday’s market.
“Each of the 22 covered spaces are paid for, but not everybody comes at the same time,” Coppin said. “Some may not have anything ready yet.”
Most of the produce vendors are from Bell County and do this as a hobby, she said.
The Temple market is held Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. The market opens at 7 a.m.
Belton has a large farmers market on Saturday, but the producers who set up shop in Temple on the weekend are slowly building up a clientele, Coppin said.
“If you have good produce people will follow you,” she said.
