Located just inside the Dufferin Agricultural Society Exhibit Hall, the Carman Farmer’s Market opens and beckons community and customers. This bustling market invites you to explore a treasure trove of fresh goods every Friday from June to mid-September. With an array of vendors offering everything from homemade treats to unique innovations, there’s something special waiting for you at every table.
The market welcomes approximately 10 to 12 vendors weekly, all with locally grown, baked, created or homemade goods.
A new feature introduced this year is the Featured Farmer booth, where innovative local family farms showcase their unique products such as alpaca wool or certified gluten-free oatmeal.
Vendors also generously donate some of their earnings to a charity of choice, which supports the underlying ethos of giving back and nurturing both people and causes. As a group, the market also donates to the DAS for use of the building each year.
Since its inception in 1988 by Len and Edith Rook of Dufferin Market Gardens, the market has fostered a sense of community spirit.
Edith was the first president of the said group. Their family still brings their produce to the market regularly.
Ten years later, in 1998, Joyce Nicolajsen joined and sold her baked goods, preserves, and home sewn items. Nicolajsen then took over as treasurer and secretary the following year.
“Our market is a place for local people to vend and test their products,” said Nicolajsen.
In 2014, an application process was initiated to make sure that vendor products are locally sourced and produced. The same year, Nicolajsen introduced the community booth, where a local non-profit group can come each week to promote their work and recruit volunteers. She also introduced the weekly busker program.
The introduction of live entertainment like pianist Lori Douma adds another dimension of joy to the market experience, creating a harmonious blend of music and shopping.
Live entertainers change from week to week and are meant for market-goers to listen to while they browse and enjoy the atmosphere.
“They seem to be appreciated by the shoppers and community at large,” said Nicolajsen.
Lori Douma, who grew up out west but moved with her family to Manitoba when she was in the eighth grade recently graced the Carman Farmer’s Market on June 28, and will do so again on Aug. 9 and Sept. 6.
Douma began taking piano lessons at the age of five and was in and out of these lessons throughout her childhood.
“Playing the piano was fundamental during my high school years, as it got me through a lot of those hard days that come with being a teenager,” said Douma.
After high school, she took a bit of a break from the instrument while still playing a few pieces here and there for local church concerts. By the end of 2019, she had started playing the piano again frequently, serenading her husband and three children. In 2021, Douma was given the opportunity to play at a wedding and later played at a farmer’s market for the first time. Since then, she has performed at farmer’s markets about three times a year and enjoys playing occasionally at her church’s preservice.
“I love being able to play at the farmer’s market, and I love sharing the gift of music with people,” shared Douma. “Music brings me joy, and I hope and pray that the people who hear my music feel that way through it.”
Aside from piano, Douma also occasionally picks up the flute, which she has played since the fourth grade. Her other hobbies include sewing, knitting, drawing, colouring with her kids, and participating in plenty of sports, especially soccer.
Douma’s piano performances are a rich tapestry of music, ranging from classical to contemporary pieces, and even some hymns. Her repertoire features compositions from renowned artists like David Lanz, Yiruma, and William Joseph.
While listening to Douma’s renditions, customers can peruse the selection of vendors. Among these vendors are home baked bread, buns, pies, tarts, and cookies, as well as jams, jellies, pickles, and relish. Others come bearing home sewn items for the kitchen and for babies, live edge woodworking, crocheting and knitting, sourdough, greenhouse tomatoes and fresh vegetables, herbs and preserves, birdseed, pork and beef products, pottery, and fresh cut flowers.
Throughout the years, the Carman Farmer’s Market has gone through changes to aspects such as their president or the location it is held at, but it has stayed true to the values of community and local produce and goods.
