Portales farmer's market kicks off

Farmers and gardeners involved in Portales farmer’s market said this is the best crop they have seen in a long time despite it running later than usual.

Don Wiley, owner of Good Shepherd Farms between Clovis and Portales, said this is the best crop he has seen in five years.

“Some years are good and some years are bad. The last five years, because of the drought, have been terrible. This is a much better crop,” Wiley said.

Wiley said three years ago he was hit with chemicals that completely destroyed his crop. This year, he will have an abundance of all 30 crops that he grows at Good Shepherd.

While the crop will be abundant, Wiley said he has not seen very much blooming yet, because of the cold spring, the crops are growing later than they usually do, he said.

“When they do finally grow, they will create an abundance,” Wiley said.

link Staff Photo: Anna George

Pam Wortham, left, sells asparagus to Patsy Jimenez at the Portales farmer’s market on Monday. Wortham has been selling at the farmer’s market for three years.

Margie Plummer, vendor and director of the farmer’s market, said it is rare for them to have a lot of vendors this time of the year anyway.

“The market always starts out slow, because we don’t have a lot of produce yet,” Plummer said.

Carlos Paiz, owner of Bonita Vista Farms in Portales, said he will hopefully be ready to start selling in the next two weeks despite the delay.

Paiz said that his crops are behind like most farmers, but his corn and tomatoes are looking good so far.

“By the 20th of August everything will be in full swing,” Paiz said.

August is when Paiz and other farmers are expecting their green chile to be ready. Paiz said green chile is his biggest seller, along with tomatoes.

Wiley said his largest seller is also tomatoes, especially heirloom since he is the only one that sells them.

Rick Ledbetter, owner and president of Z-7 Farms, said he only sells chile and sweet corn at the farmer’s market.

He said his corn is right on time compared to the other crops which are running late.

“Our crop is looking really good; the rain has helped considerably,” he said.

Tomatoes, chile and sweet corn are not the highlight of the Portales farmer’s market this year though.

Plummer said they have implemented a new program called the Double Bucks Program that allows people to buy fresh fruits and vegetables with food stamps. The incentive is after spending $20 in food stamps on the fruits and vegetables, you are awarded another $20 to spend at the market.

Ledbetter said the program could be extremely positive for both venders and customers if they are willing to use it.

“Its an opportunity for more people to get fresh fruits and vegetables. I hope that people utilize it,” he said.

Wiley said the success of the program is dependent on how it runs its course this first year. His worry is that people will not use the program.

“I am hopeful that it will be a good program, but we don’t know until we try it. I hope it is taken advantage of,” Wiley said.