Heading Back to the Farm at the Apalachicola Farmers Market
Do you love fresh fruits and veggies? Do you love meeting local artists? Do you love shaved ice (yes, I just said shaved ice!)? You can enjoy them all at the Apalachicola Farmers Market. The farmers market is a great stop in Apalachicola on Saturday morning after breakfast at El Jalisco in Eastpoint or before you head the Apalachicola Maritime Museum? The Apalachicola Farmer’s Market takes place every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month at 479 Market St. right next to the harbor. The farmers market started in summer of 2015, nearly five years ago. We were finally able to check out the farmer’s market on our last trip to the island and got to meet many wonderful people.
The first thing you see as you walk up to the farmers market is the big blue shaved ice trailer called, “The Mellow Mullet.” It was a cool morning when we arrived so we decided to pass on the shaved ice, but I knew right away this farmers market was going to surprise me.
Because of the cool temperatures, there were not as many vendors as there typically are at the farmers market, but we were still able to walk around and see all of the vendors. There were several artists there ranging from those selling drawings and paintings to sea glass jewelry.
We really enjoyed walking around the harbor and looking at the old boats. Many of the old fishing boats are decades old, and it’s fun to walk around and look at all of the names, especially with your “Sweetheart.”
The thing that caught my eye the most on our trip to the farmers market was “Hurricane Honey.” We met Buddy Nachtsheim near the back of the farmer’s market (farthest away from the shaved ice trailer). Buddy began keeping bees in the summer of 2018 after selling Tupelo honey for several years. Just a few months after he set up his hives, Hurricane Michael hit his home near Mexico Beach and Port St. Joe on October 10, 2018 (to see our latest update on Hurricane Michael, click here). After a few days of cleanup following the devastating hurricane, Buddy decided to check on his battered hives. The hives were battered by the hurricane, but Buddy still reassembled the hives and gave his bees a “pep talk.” The destruction from the hurricane included not only Buddy’s hives but also all of the blooms that the bees needed to survive. Buddy began to feed the bees with corn syrup supplied by the state and sugar water until the blooms began to grow nearly six months after Hurricane Michael. His bees survived and on Memorial Day 2019, Buddy bottled 35 pounds of what he called “Hurricane Honey.”
You can check out the full story here. Buddy has even been interviewed on the Weather Channel! Make sure you check out Buddy’s website at Good News Honey.
Are you looking for something fresh and local on your St. George Island beach vacation? Are you looking for a way to support the local community and its farmers? Make sure you check out the Apalachicola Farmers Market. Also, make sure you like the Apalachicola Farmer’s Market Facebook page to get updates on some of the vendors (I promise it’ll make your mouth water!).
Have you been the farmers market? What was your favorite part of the market or favorite vendor? Let us know in the comments section below.
