Warren County High School FFA students will once again be conducting their own Farmers Market beginning this Monday, June 9 from 8 a.m. to noon. It will be located in the agriculture department shop located at the side of the school through the bay door.
Available for purchase will be garden-ripened fruits and vegetables including cucumbers, corn, onions, beans, potatoes, squash, cantaloupe, and peaches. There will also be fresh eggs, homemade honey and nursery stock.
Also for sale will be the hydroponic lettuce and cherry tomatoes that Danielle Smith’s agriscience students grew and sold to the cafeteria this past school year.
“This lettuce has never touched dirt,” said Smith. “We will be providing the fresh produce to the school again for the 2014-2015 school term.”
Plants grown hydroponically receive needed nutrients through the irrigation water. Since the lettuce is grown inside a greenhouse, it can be grown year round.
The WCHS Farmers Market is considered a supervised agriculture experience to help students learn by doing. Students in FFA are required to put in 180 hours during the calendar year on their projects.
“This is how the students make money and they also win awards for their hard work,” said Smith. “This grooms the students in how to run a business. It also goes along with the farming aspect.”
Smith said most of the student run their business as a entrepreneurship, which means they own and operate the agricultural business. A few students work for someone else but they are still involved with the entire process. Many of the students come from a long line of farmers or nursery owners.
The WCHS Farmers Market will be open every Monday from 8 a.m.- 12 noon throughout the summer.