Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Shop the Market will give families coupons and infuse local farmers with cash
Summer is over, but the Bentonville Farmers Market still has plenty of fun in store for local families, starting with a couple of upcoming special events.
“Shop the Market” will award two $5 coupons to each family that drops by the Downtown Bentonville Inc. tent — first come, first serve. It will begin at 7:30 a.m. Saturday. The coupons can be used just like cash at any of the 75-80 vendors within the market, says Aaron Nolan of Downtown Bentonville.
The next Saturday, on Oct. 28, a trick-or-treat event, sponsored by Werther’s candy, will distribute candy to all the little ones during the final outdoor market of 2023. The market will move indoors to Record after that.
Shop the Market is “an annual event, part of our 29 farmers markets that we do each and every season from April to the end of October,” Nolan said, noting that it’s sponsored by Lifetime Events. “This is a way to infuse local business, whether it’s farmers or local makers and get people excited about that side of the world when it comes to farm fresh food. It allows these families to dive in.”
No change will be issued from the coupons, so make sure to get the most for your $5, Nolan recommends.
“If you want to get bread or tomatoes or flowers for your mom, whatever that may be, you can do that,” he said. “We’re going to infuse our market side when it comes to business with $2,400 that will go directly back into our local farmers and makers at the market.”
Downtown Bentonville Inc. is known for its parties, particularly the popular event First Fridays the monthly block party, but investing in the local economy is part of its mission.
“We throw some really great events, but at the heart of what we do is being able to support local business,” Nolan said. “The farmers are local of the local. They’re the guys that are on the front line all the time.”
This time of year, as farmers are winding down their season and they can’t get out in the fields quite as much, Nolan said, the coupons help give farmers the boost they may need to keep coming back next season. It may also help community members foster a good habit of buying fresh green beans, asparagus and more.
QUALITY FOOD
Go to the Bentonville Farmers Market often enough and you might come to recognize or get acquainted with John and Elizabeth Aselage, who started A&A Orchard in Carroll County in 1979.
The apples, peaches and pears from their orchard make a regular appearance at the markets of Bentonville, Fayetteville and Eureka Springs, and they turn up for others through a fruit and vegetable subscription too.
This Saturday they will bring 12 varieties of apples and one variety of pear to the market.
“It’s more variety than you can find at the supermarket,” John Aselage said. As a seasonal producer, they start with varieties in early August and continue until the fruit is done. They haven’t picked the last varieties of the season yet. “People like a firm apple picked in season — not green or over-ripe or soft.”
Each of the A&A trees gets picked five times, always at its peak and sent promptly to the market. The early varieties were Akane and Honeycrisp. Now they’re firmly into Jonathan apple season. Any apple that is second grade, or not quite pretty enough to be sold as an apple you’d have for a snack, gets turned into juice or another processed product, such as cider, vinegar, apple chips or apple pie filling in a jar.
Interacting with the farmers at the market is part of what customers seem to enjoy, Aselage said.
“We have descriptions (of the produce) on the table,” he said. “But people like to ask what your favorites are or what makes a good pie. They want to know a lot of things … they want to know what’s good right now and what we’ll have this winter.”
The Aselages have been attending the Bentonville market since somewhere between 2010 and 2012 and watched it grow quite a bit. Attendance is good, so they tend to make 400-500 separate transactions any given Saturday, or if it’s a Saturday with peaches that will rise to 600-900 transactions. They expect they’ll
get a large number of coupons this time.
They’ve noticed that the Bentonville crowd has a few more tourists and a few more young people than the other markets in Northwest Arkansas. Both seem to appreciate the intentional practices that have gone into the A&A Orchard.
“One thing that differentiates us from others is that we use a good part of our land (for) native pollinators,” John Aselage said. Both he and Elizabeth are Master Naturalists. They’re getting rid of invasive plants and establishing native plant reservoirs to increase biodiversity. They carefully follow a spray protocol that is pollinator sensitive. “In Bentonville … their primary (want) is good food — good fruit that tastes good and they like our emphasis on our sustainability with pollinators and that we are 100% solar, all our electrical needs are met with solar.
“They like the idea of shopping with somebody who makes good food and shares their values.”
A WALK IN MAYBERRY
Bobby and Summer Manzo have been running happystateco, an Arkansas/Northwest Arkansas-themed apparel brand out of Bentonville for the last 10 years. It began as a side hustle, something that Bobby was doing on the weekends and has grown so much that they now have two shop locations.
Every Saturday Manzo brings Bentonville farmers market-themed T-shirts and an assortment of other Bentonville-branded apparel, lifestyle products and accessory items such as stickers, hats and socks to the market.
He brings a sampling of what you can find in their stores, but also shirts that coordinate with the
theme of that week’s market, such as dog days or any of the bikethemed events.
“We love Bentonville, we love Northwest Arkansas, we love being a part of the community,” Manzo said. “I think the Bentonville farmers market stands out from any other market because it’s not your traditional produce market. It’s a local community block party: it’s got food, it’s got music, you can bring your whole family to it. You can all shop for something. It just gives you a feel of what this town is really about.”
That’s exactly what Aaron Nolan and Downtown Bentonville Inc. hopes they can provide to market-goers: fun block parties at First Fridays and then the next morning it’s more of a walk through Mayberry, he said.
So far the numbers seem to reflect that people appreciate the vibe of this particular market. In 2022, the market broke sales records of $1.75 million. This year it’s on track to eclipse a goal of $2 million.
“It’s that feeling (that) your neighbors are walking with you as you go around and get a cup of coffee,” Nolan said. You can “walk around and experience something that is completely polar opposite from the parties we throw on First Fridays. This is that family gathering; that is people next door. The feeling of knowing who you’re shopping with. It’s the cool of the morning, watching the sunrise in downtown Bentonville.
It’s pretty special.”