Mountjoy Farmers Market in Timmins showcases new venders at new location

The scent of summer is in the air at the Mountjoy Farmers Market in Timmins.

The Mountjoy Farmers Market in Timmins has a new look this summer. It is in a different location than last year and has attracted some unique vendors.

Carmella Bos said she saw The Northern Fleurista's bouquets online and was eager to take in their aroma in person.

“They’re grown locally and they’re very ... romantic," said Bos.

Sarah Romanowski launched her flower farm this winter when she sowed around one-hundred seeds in her home.

"I’ve been growing things for years, but I wanted to do something kind of special and unique and it seems to make people happy and I really like that," Romanowski said.

“I usually pick at 5:30 in the morning and then I let things cool in cold storage and I take them out at night and make the bouquets pretty much through the night and have them ready for the morning."

There were twenty-eight vendors at the open air market this Saturday. Many are farmers selling fresh produce and meats from the city and surrounding area. The market is on Pavilion Road, on the south side of the Mattagami River Bridge.

“The new location is giving us so much room, so much more accessibility for people to come. They’re parking a lot closer so they can go and do two and three trips to get their vegetables and supplies and we have more for vendors," said Rock Whissell, president of the Porcupine District Agricultural Society.

If the products at the market weren't grown by hand, they were made by hand. Artisans and craftspeople were also happy to be connecting with clients in person.

Home cooked food is also on the menu at the farmers market.

A couple from Ukraine sold all their perogies and cabbage rolls in less than an hour. Cottage cheese filled crepes and liver cake are another of the couple’s delicacies. They said the market is a good place for them to connect with people which is helping them get accustomed to living in Canada.

“If I compare it with Europe, so Europe, more developed than Canada but now it’s better than Ukraine. I already been in Canada one year, but my wife and kids come when the war begin," said Igor Shunevych.

The Mountjoy Farmers Market happens every Saturday from 9 a.m. to noon on the banks of the Mattagami River. In October, after the last market on Thanksgiving weekend, that's when construction will begin on the thirty by one-hundred foot pavilion.

"It will shelter market vendors during next summer's markets, but at any other time," Whissell said "it's a structure that anyone will be able to use."