The Ely Farmers Market is gearing up for its busiest weeks of the year, with a record 67 vendors and counting signed up for the season’s Tuesday gatherings at Whiteside Park.
Vendors include a fractal wood burning artist, sourdough
bread bakers, suncatcher makers, skincare product specialists who forage their own ingredients, and so much more — and those numbers don’t even account for the 8-10 food trucks.
“It just keeps going. People are excited, they want to support their neighbors, they want to see what your talent is, what your craft is, what you create,” said market president Karen Hamilton. “It’s just so cool.”
Hamilton said most vendors are local to the Ely area or the Iron Range. Attendees, on the other hand, come from all over.
Some live in Ely and visit the market weekly. Others stop by on their way into the Boundary Waters and carry locally-made sourdough bread or roasted nuts with them into the woods.
“It’s a treat for them to take more local products with them on their trip,” Hamilton said.
“I had some people come by and say, ‘Oh, we can’t have this because we’re traveling and we don’t have a microwave,’” said Katherine Gheen of Katie’s Baked Goods, who sells at the market weekly.
Zach Huberty of Three Jewels Pottery on Sheridan Street set up a booth at the farmers market for the first time after receiving inspiration from the event’s high turnout.
“Last week I drove by and saw how busy it was and was really surprised,” Huberty said. “A lot of customers that were coming into our shop had been at the farmers market.”
With its significant weekly attendance, the market also offers the opportunity for creators and growers who are just getting on their feet to gain visibility.
“I’ve got one vendor in particular. She joined the farmers market as her first event that she’s doing with her handmade bags. She has done so well that she doesn’t even have the inventory to come this week,” Hamilton said.
LaDandria Taylor of Taylor Made with Love set up her booth with baked goods and body butter for the first time in mid-June. She sold out of cinnamon rolls before the end of the market.
“I’m the family baker. For Christmas and Thanksgiving, I’m the one who bakes everything,” Taylor said. “Everybody kept telling me, you should sell these, they’re so good. So I was like, you know what, I’ll try.”
Once signed up for the season, a vendor’s assigned space is available to them without the pressure of a weekly attendance requirement, leading to a unique variety of booths each Tuesday.
Lynn Munkeby of Artist- Re Creations has sold her stained glass, jewelry and paintings at the Ely Farmers Market for 17 years. She said the socializing at the market is what keeps bringing her back.
“You’re building that community. People come and hang out for hours,” Hamilton said. “It doesn’t take three hours to walk the market. But they’ll stay around, get dinner and shop. It’s so cool. Every week you’ll see a lot of the same people.”
The market launched around 2007. Hamilton took over in 2019 after three years attending as a vendor with her Bavarian-style nut roasting business.
“We got together for our first board meeting, and they said, we don’t actually elect each office. If somebody particularly wants to do something else, or they know which role they want to fulfill, they can do it,” Hamilton said. “I said, cool. I want to be president.”
“I jumped in with both feet,” Hamilton said. The market has grown from just 35 vendors when she started as president to the nearly 70 it now hosts.
Hamilton had lots of ideas she wanted to implement, especially higher visibility and lower vendor fees.
Emily Slovnik of Outsider Art Printing Co. was initially inspired to make the leap from customer to merchant for that exact reason.
“As far as starting a booth, people around town would say, ‘Oh, it’s only this much to do it, and so you should do it,’” Slovnik said. “So now I do it.”
Slovnik said she appreciates the “super welcoming” atmosphere.
“My lifelong philosophy on the whole thing has been that if you make, bake, can, grow or create your items, you’re welcome at the farmers market,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton said this principle is especially important in an area with such a brief growing season, one of the shortest of any market in the entire United States, in order to support local gardeners, small-scale farmers and produce growers of all sorts.
“You’re not going to see a giant farm stand, unfortunately. But if you walk our vendors, you’ll find some who have canned their own green beans or pickled their own pickles,” Hamilton said.
Hamilton said the market is a passion for her and she hopes to continue building it.
“A rising tide lifts all ships. There’s abundance, there’s wealth. We’re all coming together for the right things,” Hamilton said.
