Keady Market
July 21, 2009
If you wanted to start up a wildly successful farmer’s market, where would it be located? In a small, out of the way little village? What day of the week, Tuesday? Not very likely! Ha!
Well, with everything from livestock (small and large), baked goods, fresh fruit and vegetables, crafts, clothing and so much more, you can definitely spend hours at the Keady Market. It’s an open air market that’s located 10 miles southwest of Owen Sound and open 7 am to 2 pm each Tuesday… year round. Image that… a really small village and on a Tuesday to boot!
The market was established in 1950 originally as a livestock exchange until one day a local apple farmer decided to bring fruit from his orchard. He sold it at the entrance to the cattle barn. Things snowballed and now there’s more than 200 vendors each week.
The vendors arrive early and set up in the field behind the livestock auction building, creating row upon row of browsing opportunities.
Wandering around the grounds, some of the goods you can find include family run fruit and vegetable stands, Mennonite baking, homemade sausages, herbs, flowers, live fish, pond plants, antiques, odds and ends, clothes, shoes and even puppies and kittens for sale. I’ve even seen a few hedgehogs for sale.
There’s always a deal to be had and a bargain to be struck. The indoor livestock portion of the market is open year round, with the outdoor vendors appearing only during the warmer months. July and August see the biggest crowds and greatest number of sellers so it’s best to show up early.
Each week is a new adventure at the Keady Market… hope to see you there!
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And therein the secret: if you wanted to start up a wildly successful farmer’s market, you wouldn’t. You would just let one happen, organically, because it needed to happen, there, where it is. There was no ‘business plan’ for Keady, there was only the need to trade livestock, a very real need. That need brought people together, and it was after that our apple-farmer saw the opportunity to reach an audience, and there were no by-laws or licenses or quotas to stop him, he just showed up with his apples and left with cash in his pocket. Natural like the wildflowers that dot the fields.
One vendor sparks the next, who sparks another and soon you have people there for the apples and antique license plates who may actually be in the way of those there to do the mundane business of buying and selling livestock. The thing takes on a life of its own.