Get an early start on Saturday mornings and head east to stock up on locally grown and harvested goods at Southgate Corner Farmers Market. Take your pick from produce, fresh & preserved fruit, fresh baked goods, local honey, farm fresh eggs and much more. For almost 15 years, the market has opened every Saturday morning rain or shine, welcoming customers from 9am to 12pm to support local farmers and artisans with a variety of goods.
Weekly updates on the market’s Facebook page share details about which farmers and vendors will be there each Saturday and what products they’re bringing. Chris and Christie Powers, local Realtors with Coldwell Banker St. Croix Realty, help manage the page, keeping the community informed and excited for market day. “We got involved with the market because we’re neighbors and want people on island to have access to healthy, locally grown fruit, produce and other items produced locally.” As residents of St. Croix for over 20 years, they understand the importance of supporting local agriculture and believe the market embodies the spirit of the island.
Shoppers can expect a lineup of 7 to 12 vendors each week. Tico’s Garden offers an array of fruits and vegetables like lettuce, mustard greens, spinach, eggplants, dragon fruit, and eggfruit, with specials like their soursop and eggfruit ice creams and fresh juices. STX Local Eggs bring their farm-fresh eggs by the dozen, and Fiddlewood Farm showcases their artisanal goat cheese in flavors such as cranberry, French herb, black pepper, and a seasonal mango favorite. Bramble Bites adds unique finds like avocado salad dressing and breadfruit muffins, along with refreshing juices from local fruits like carambola, guava, and golden apple.
Another sweet find at the market comes from beekeeper and certified arborist, Errol Chichester. Thanks to his 3-acre fruit orchard and apiary, he harvests honey and a variety of native, tropical, and sub-tropical fruits that are available for purchase each week at the market. “I really enjoy coming to the market because we’re like a little family, plus everything found here is locally grown and/or produced,” shared Chichester. Sharing with others is also important to him being that he regularly brings fruits from his farm for marketgoers to experience, often for the first time. “I recently brought some mamey apple to share and many people at the market had never tried it before since it’s not as popular on island as it once was.” Along with his wonderful humor, Chichester always has some unique agricultural surprise on hand each week.
Find Southgate Corner Farmers Market at the intersection of East End Road, just west of Cheeseburger in Paradise and near Southgate Baptist Church. Look for the lively lot full of activity every Saturday. For more information, visit the market’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1173503619716087/ or search “Southgate Corner Farmers’ Market.”
Written by Anquanette Gaspard