By Jason C. Mattox
and Billy Davis

Holding a farmers market during the middle of the week, which Batesville plans to do in five days, is a smart strategy for starting strong, says the manager of the Hernando Farmers Market.

The Batesville start-up, known as the Panola Farmers Market, will kick off Wednesday, June 30, at 3 p.m. on the Downtown Square.

Fifteen vendors, selling everything from vegetables and flowers to fried pies, have said they plan to participate, organizers said this week.

Products for sale are tomatoes, squash, beans, peas, cantaloupes, watermelons, cut flowers, potted plants, herbs, herbed vinegar, jams, jellies, pickles, relishes, cakes, fried pies, plums and bread.

Such strong participation is likely because vendors are picking vegetables that need to be sold early in the week, said Hernando manager Karen Ott Mayer, of Como.

Mayer, a freelance writer, is in her second year overseeing the Hernando Farmers Market, where she is also a vendor. The event there draws a crowd to downtown Hernando on Saturday mornings.

Organizers of the Panola Farmers Market, impressed with Hernando, sought out Mayer for advice, said co-organizer Bobbie Jean Pounders.

One of Mayer’s ideas, which had already been considered, is to waive a fee for vendors this year, an obvious draw to boost participation. Hernando charges $10.

Participation from 15 vendors – with more expected – is admirable for Batesville, especially since Mayer had hoped for 15 to 20 vendors when the Hernando Farmers Market kicked off June 6.

“A farmers market will be successful if it isn’t about one person or one agenda,” said Mayer. “Its purpose is to get fresh food into the consumer’s hands.”

If a Batesville farmers market can get established, it would join nearby neighbors Oxford, Taylor and Water Valley.

Oxford holds its twice-weekly event, called the Midtown Farmer’s Market, on Saturdays and Wednesdays.

Both Taylor and Water Valley hold their markets on Saturday mornings.  

If Batesville succeeds, “there is a chance we could add a weekend market” next year, said Pounders.

For now, pulling off a first-ever event is a long way from where it started.

In late 2009, the seeds were planted for a Batesville farmers market when organizer Jennifer Tidwell called a meeting of interested Panola Countians. Only two vendors, and eight other supporters, showed up.

Regular meetings limped along for a short while, then quit almost as quickly as they started.

Local supporters, led by Pounders, resurrected the idea almost two months ago, at the same time other farmers markets were set to kick off in North Mississippi.

Pounders teamed up with Tidwell then brought aboard friend Glenda Bailey and Colleen Clark, the longtime manager of Batesville Main Street, the downtown revitalization program.

Batesville Main Street will sponsor the farmers market, which is kicking off without even a shoestring budget.

The organizers’ efforts took a big step forward June 15 when Pounders, a former city alderman, got permission from the City of Batesville to hold the farmers market on the Square.

She told The Panolian that vendors will line up just north of the pavilion, among the Bradford pear trees.

Pounders, when she was alderman, had unsuccessfully pursued a farmers market a decade ago. She told a reporter this week that a farmers market is one of her “wishes” for Batesville, along with a history museum and an animal shelter.

Bailey credited Pounders, who is battling cancer, for working hard to organize the Panola Farmers Market.

“She’s not stopping until it’s a reality,” said Bailey.  “She won’t quit.”

Although she’s ill, Pounders joined Bailey as they visited Oxford, Taylor and Hernando to spread word among vendors of the new undertaking in downtown Batesville.

“We are excited about the first market,” said Pounders, “and think we are going to have a really good turnout.”