Farmers market includes colorful confection

Trio of traditional vendors have good variety

By DAVID COLBURN

News editor

Peabody Farmers Market had produce and baked goods people expected Monday, and it had something extra to delight kids: cotton candy.

Tereasa Siebert of Hillsboro sold the spun confection Saturday at Bluegrass at the Lake, but she had leftovers.

Colorful, fluffy cotton candy bags hanging from a pop-up canopy added a festive touch to the summer’s inaugural market.

Organizer Kaylin Thiessen and her daughter, Esther, were selling baked goods.

“We’ve got pies — peach, apple, strawberry, I have some strawberry-rhubarb; the cherry’s already gone,” Thiessen said.

The Thiessens also had bierocks, French bread, and dinner rolls, as well as Romaine lettuce, squash, and zucchini.

Marti Nellans, who lives between Peabody and Burns, was back after a long absence.

“I haven’t done it here in Peabody for probably 12 or 13 years,” she said. I’m going to try to come every week.”

Nellans should have plenty of produce, even though she uses some of her stock to supplement other farmers market vendors.

“I have a huge garden at home,” she said. “This year I planted over 6,000 onions and 850 hills of potatoes, and I have a acre of sweet corn. I love to grow.”

Doris Unruh, who lives west of Peabody, had the largest assortment of goods.

“We grow potatoes, a lot of garlic, onions, rhubarb, blackberries, and raspberries,” she said. “We have Graze and Layz eggs and poultry for sale. We do a lot of jams and jellies from the fruit we grow.”

She said rhubarb was a local favorite in Peabody and in Newton, where she also sells.

“I can take 15 to 18 pounds of rhubarb, and it will be gone in an hour,” she said.

Although the turnout was small, Thiessen said she expected more vendors as the summer progresses.

“We’ll have some more after the Fourth of July,” she said.