Founded in the 1970s, the Brazos Valley Farmers’ Market has grown into a staple of the community and increased its number of vendors as well.
Located at 500 N. Main St. in Downtown Bryan, the market is open to the public on Saturdays from 8 a.m. to noon.
Hollydew Farm has been a vendor at the Brazos Valley Farmers’ Market for the past year and is run by Karen Carter, Class of 1992, and Darren Carter, Class of 1991. Karen and Darren said they have seen tremendous growth within a year, which they expect will continue.
“The market has about tripled in the past year as far as the number of vendors and the number of customers,” Karen said.
A part of the Aggie family themselves, Darren said they have connected with their student customers.
“I think they’re appreciating what we’re doing, and I think we’re developing a good clientele with students,” Darren said. “I think they appreciate knowing where their food comes from.”
Despite the challenges presented in the past year, Karen said they have new projects in the works, providing more opportunities to serve the Bryan-College Station community.
“Big projects we’re working on are a rainwater collection system for irrigation, and we’ll be putting up a barn soon, which will then have space for pigs and dairy goats,” Karen said.
Communication sophomore Carly Kahn of Carly’s Confections has also been a vendor at the Brazos Valley Farmers’ Market for almost a year now. Kahn said she originally attended other farmers’ markets outside of the area, but since joining the Brazos Valley Farmers’ Market, she said she has been able to form more relationships with her customers.
“This one inspired me because some of the other ones I’ve done in the past, you know, you get to meet the people and they kind of hang out, but what’s so important about this one is that there’s Aggies and so you really get to know the Aggie community,” Kahn said. “As soon as they walk to your booth, you see the ring and have that connection and share stories about how they were in school and how you’re doing in school.”
Due to the recent winter storms, Darren said their farm had setbacks, but they still managed to attend this past Saturday’s market.
“You’ll see the damage, but you’ll also see how some things did survive,” Darren said, referring to their Facebook page. “It did set them back, but you know we’ll move on. Spring crops will come along.”
With the storm impacting College Station so close to Carly’s Confections’s first Valentine’s Day, Kahn said she also faced challenges.
“The roads were awful, [and] there was a shortage of food so you couldn’t get supplies,” Kahn said. “It was definitely difficult, but I’m ready to start working again this week, and I know a lot of the other local businesses are too.”
To find out more about the Brazos Valley Farmers’ Market and their vendors, click here.