intersection of Highways 190 and 96, and hours are
8 to 11 am Saturday mornings, http://jasper.agrilife.
org/jasper-county-farmers-market/
Vendors usually show up by 7:30 to set up. Some just
back into their spots and tailgate. Others have tables
and tents for shade. Popular produce items can sell
out quickly, so some vendors are gone by 9:30, but
key vendors always hold down the fort till it closes.
One such vendor is Sybil Avery, known for her
jams and jellies and award winning fruit cakes. Her
husband is a woodworker who makes furniture,
cutting boards, coasters and bird feeders.
Marvin Guidry, Jasper’s own Birdman, makes purple
martin houses. Purple martins eat their weight in
mosquitos and like to live in colonies, so Marvin’s
houses resemble bird condominiums. Kenyon Ranch
Soap comes from Woodville to sell beauty products
based on coconut oil and olive oil. Two local growers
from Peachtree community, Dan Williamson’s 3rd Day
Farm and Will Lewis’s Pecan Hill Farm are regulars at
market. Both of them also have local fruit stands but
come to farmers market as well because “that’s where
the people are.”
One of the big draws is that Jasper Master Gardeners
are on hand to help with garden advice. They often
have milkweed plants for sale and information about
the monarch butterfly migration that gives Jasper
its nickname, Butterfly Capital of Texas. In fact, the
Jasper market closes the first Saturday in October for
Butterfly Festival and everyone moves downtown.
Food and craft vendors take booths at the Chamber
of Commerce’s Fall Fest on the courthouse square.
Master Gardeners hold tours of the butterfly house
and have butterfly releases and free kids activities at
the Outdoor Learning Center, 225 Water Street. A free
city trolley takes passengers on the 3 block ride from
the festivals to the Library Book Sale and back.
“Where we’ve been having 15 vendors on an average
Saturday, we’ll have three or four times that many
show up for Holiday Market,” Singletary says. “We also
see a lot of handcrafted stuff from people who only
come for Holiday Market. They’ve spent the whole
year knitting or carving or whatever, and they come
to our market to offer some really unique gifts.”
The bottom line, according to the Texas Certified
Farmers Market Association,