“Come outside … we’ll get some social distancing,” grins Calvin Parker, proprietor of Parker’s Greenhouse north of Humboldt.
Parker has been growing fresh vegetables for Allen County’s Farmers Markets for several years now, and clearly takes pride in his work.
In past years, he’s also operated a market stand from the side of the road, where folks put their money in a bucket following the honor system.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, this year Parker and his Farmer’s Market colleagues have been trying to envision alternative delivery methods.
“We’re gonna look for a way to get produce to the community,” he said. “We’re not going anywhere.”
Some options for reenvisioning the Farmer’s Market include: a drive-through set up, filling out online orders that are either picked up or delivered, or having a more traditional market with the recommended spacing between vendors.
The goal is to “minimize your risk,” he explained, both to the vendors and the community.
“Best is the drive-through,” Parker said. “It’ll be a novelty.”
“We could fix it so [that people] could never get out of their vehicle.”
Whatever strategy is adopted, Parker said he’ll miss the social interaction that the market provides, as he really enjoys meeting people there, especially younger folks who are discovering the market for the first time.
According to him, “[he] should have stuff about the first of May.”
If the warm, sweet smell of the potatoes in Parker’s greenhouse are an indication of what’s to come, mark your calendars.
AFTER working as a chemist at Monarch Cement for 28 years, Parker was eager to get back to his first love, gardening and farming, which he said was cultivated while working at a peach orchard near Wichita when he was young.
As he explained, “[I’d grown] to love it but couldn’t ever make a living out of it.”
Growing peaches is both labor-intensive and has spotty results, often with only one year out of five yielding a substantial harvest.
Parker also explained that Farmer’s Markets weren’t very popular until the last five to 10 years, which made finding a market for peaches and other produce difficult.
