Fresh Local Delicious

from TG Magazine Prescott Valley | Fall 2021 | Taste of Central AZ

7 Ways To Prep Your Garden For Fall

By Angie Johnson-Schmit

The Prescott Farmers Market (PFM) has been connecting area residents with local, straight-from-the-farm produce, eggs, meat and flowers for nearly a quarter century. Prescott, Arizona native Kathleen Yetman was just a teenager when the market first started in 1997. Today, Yetman is the Executive Director of PMF. She has overseen some big changes in the market that now features nearly 60 vendors, including over 25 farms, food and drink vendors, and a few craft vendors.

The market has become a favorite Saturday morning event for many families. With the variety of food and live music, it’s become a great venue for people to socialize with friends and neighbors while they shop. It also offers an opportunity for patrons to meet and talk to the farmers and ranchers who grow the food they purchase. For Yetman, giving people a real connection to both their community and to the food that ends up on their dinner plates is deeply satisfying.

After several years at Yavapai College, the market relocated in 2020. “It was actually really a blessing in disguise because the lot we’re at right now, Yavapai Regional Medical Center at Dignity Health, is just fantastic,” said Yetman. The new Miller Valley Road location has made it easier for locals to find the market and has given the market room for more vendors. “This has been a huge boost for us,” Yetman agreed.

The market has a variety of foods available, including micro greens, seasonal fruits and vegetables, chicken, eggs and beef. It’s also a great place to pick up a beautiful bouquet of fresh flowers from local flower farms.

PFM has insisted on keeping the market focused on local farming and agriculture, with preference given to farms located in Yavapai County. With so many farms and ranches operating in Chino Valley, Paulden and Williamson Valley, it hasn’t been difficult.

**Photo credit: Blushing Cactus Photography unless otherwise noted**

In an effort to keep the craft products in line with their local focus, the market has strict guidelines and rules in place for the processed food offerings and skincare products. “You have to use 10% Arizona grown ingredients in every food you make,” said Yetman. For other craft products, the required amount of Arizona grown ingredients is even higher at 80%.

The market has also expanded to Chino Valley, opening the third Thursday of every month for Chino Valley residents. “You know, some people can’t make it on Saturdays,” said Yetman. “And so we really wanted to have another opportunity for people to come in and access food.” She acknowledges that smaller markets can be a challenge, but noted that PMF is committed to finishing the season and is working to grow the farmers market in Chino Valley.

In addition to the weekly market in Prescott, Prescott Farmer’s Market also has developed some other community programs like Feed Your Neighbors.

The philanthropic program started in March 2020 as a way to address food insecurity in the community. “Obviously there’s been food insecurity for a long time, but I think it really became visible (in 2020),” said Yetman. Simply put, individuals donate money to PMF, who then turn around and purchase staple foods like bread and eggs from local farmers and ranchers. “We work with community partners like the Baghdad food bank and others to get those boxes of food to people who need them,” said Yetman. It’s a simple idea that has proved to be so popular that PMF decided to make it an ongoing philanthropic project. People interested in supporting Feed Your Neighbors can donate through the PMF website.

Another project is the Community Compost program. PMF collaborated with the City of Prescott to apply for a grant, which they received. Launched in March of this year, it is another simple, yet effective idea. Compostable kitchen scraps are collected from four local restaurants, BigA, The County Seat, La Planchada and Nick’s Feed Your Face every week. They also collect sawdust from local wood shops and coffee chaff from a local coffee roaster. Local residents can bring in their compostable kitchen scraps using a bucket exchange system.

“Every Sunday morning we have a ‘salad’ day,” said Yetman. “It’s putting all the food scraps together with the wood chips and sawdust and leaves or straw or whatever we have.” Volunteers donate three hours of their time to show up and help work the compost piles. Once the compost is ready, it’s given back to the community volunteers for their home gardens. Because the compost piles are started at different times, there will be compost ready on a rolling basis.

The newly launched Seed Library is another way that PMF is supporting local gardeners. The idea came from a conversation between Yetman and Janet Wilson, owner of Prescott Gardener. Martha Baden and Ruthie Hewitt at the Prescott Public Library were happy to give the Seed Library a home. The market purchases seeds and volunteers count them out, put them in envelopes, and seal and label them. “The exciting thing is that we have engaged a couple of farmers and gardeners in saving seeds,” said Yetman. Library card holders can go into the main branch of the Prescott Public Library and, unlike other library materials, check out and keep the seeds to use in their own gardens.

Yetman has other big goals for the market and has just written a grant to help develop food hubs. The idea is that PFM “would aggregate produce and we would wholesale it, or be that conduit to wholesaling for our farmers because they just don’t have the capacity to do it,” said Yetman. As she pointed out, “You need them on the farm… doing what they’re good at and we’ll do what we’re good at.”

For Yetman, the Prescott Farmers Market is a labor of love. Now in her seventh year as Executive Director, she is just as passionate and committed to connecting the local community with local farm and agriculture as ever. What keeps her excited about her job is “I have a three-year-old and a fiveyear-old,” she said. “Doing things for them and thinking about what our community could look like when they’re older is one of the things that really keeps me going.”

Dignity Health | YRMC

Miller Valley Parking Lot

900 Iron Springs Road

Prescott, AZ 86301