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Lindale, Texas, resident Adam Wells sorts fruit at the Wells Berry Farms booth at the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market on July 19. Wells Berry Farms is a seasonal business available from May to September.<\/p>\n
Photo by Maricela Gonzales<\/a><\/p>\n Since late March, the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market has operated west of the Rotary Dream Park and housed vendors selling a multitude of goods, from bread and produce to crafts and prints of illustrations. <\/p>\n The market has continuously grown since its opening several months ago and continues to be busy from the support of residents across Arlington. Vendors come from near and far, spend hours or days preparing and some even load up just to go on to the next market. <\/p>\n Here are four of those vendors, and a look into how they prepare and run their booths at the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market.<\/p>\n Nana\u2019s Pantry<\/strong><\/p>\n At 7 a.m. Saturday, Arlington residents Jacqui Payne, 81, and her daughter Laurie Payne, 60, arrived to set up the Nana\u2019s Pantry booth. They unpacked jams, salsas, pickled vegetables and soup mixes, brought from their home three miles away from the downtown area. <\/p>\n Jacqui Payne\u00a0discovered her love of cooking for people long before she started selling at markets. In the 1980s, she cooked for the people who attended service at the Canterbury House at Southern Methodist University. <\/p>\n \u201cI had to fix for 50 no matter how many people showed up,\u201d she said. \u201cI had to make sure there\u2019s enough, and then whatever leftovers there were stayed in the refrigerator and the kids ate off it all week.\u201d <\/p>\n Laurie Payne said her mom is always eager to make food for someone else. <\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s almost ready to go kidnap people off the street and give them food,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Jacqui Payne\u2019s preparation for the market starts throughout the week as she makes her inventory with the help of her daughter. She\u00a0does most of the pickling and salsa making, while Laurie Payne helps her mom with tasks such as lifting pots and pans that are heavy with ingredients and product. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen I\u2019m going to make salsa I have to make sure she\u2019s going to be home because I can\u2019t lift the pot,\u201d Jacqui Payne said. \u201cA batch of salsa is 25 pints, which is like 40 pounds.\u201d <\/p>\n She has been participating in markets for close to 15 years, and her daughter began helping around nine years ago. She said she wants to continue Nana\u2019s Pantry for as long as she\u2019s physically able. <\/p>\n Laurie Payne said she\u2019ll take up the mantle when her mom no longer can. <\/p>\n \u201cI really like some of her products, and when she can no longer make them, I want to be able to do it,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Melton Family Farms<\/strong><\/p>\n Canton, Texas, resident Zach Melton has been selling produce from the Melton Family Farm at the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market since it started. On Saturday, Melton said he started loading up the trailer with produce at 4:30 a.m. and arrived at the market at around 7:30 a.m. <\/p>\n Melton\u2019s stand sold fruits and vegetables ranging from watermelons to cucumbers and squash. He said peaches and berries usually sell out before anything else. <\/p>\n Melton said he’s witnessed the farmers market steadily grow since March. <\/p>\n As it’s gotten hotter, the market has started to open and close an hour earlier, letting residents and vendors stay out of extreme heat. Melton said the heat slows the whole process down, and fewer people are likely to show up to the market. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s been a lot tougher just with the heat,\u201d he said. \u201cNot just for me but for everybody out here.\u201d <\/p>\n The family farm is a multigenerational business, spanning back to Melton\u2019s grandfather. Melton said it feels good to keep the business going, even if it isn\u2019t the easiest thing to do. <\/p>\n The Melton Family Farms booth sells fresh produce at the Downtown Arlington Farmers Market on July 19. The stand offered a mix of fruits and vegetables such as peaches, squashes and cucumbers.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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