“This was kind of a little nudge to be like, this is the best and safest way to sell right now,” Lemley said.

Using that online system on a broader scale, the farmers market reopened on Thursday, April 16, for pick-up only. Vendors arrived at the market having already sorted their online orders— then the picking started.

Volunteers picked up a sheet of paper with each customer’s orders, going from vendor to vendor to fill a basket with spicy lettuce, bread, flowers, and more—“harvesting it again,” said Happy Jacks owner Lee Ann Jones.

Customers then drove up during their allotted time window— some with dogs in the front seat, some with a sign with their name on it displayed through the front windshield.

When it was her turn, Nancy Osborne, a longtime customer of the farmers market, stepped out of her vehicle to open her trunk.

“I sure appreciate everything you all do,” she called to the volunteers and vendors.

Osborne said the online order and pick-up system was “fabulous.”

“I’m amazed they got it together so fast,” Osborne said. “But I’m not because they’re such creative people.”

For the rest of April and May, the market was open on Thursdays and Saturdays for online pick-up only. “We’ve been shifting to realize that some people really appreciated it, and we had folks who started shopping at the market who had never shopped before,” Lemley said. “Maybe they didn’t like waking up on Saturday morning… this just fits in their lives better.”

“We’ve been shifting to realize that some people really appreciated it, and we had folks who started shopping at the market who had never shopped before,” Lemley said. “Maybe they didn’t like waking up on Saturday morning.. this just fits in their lives better.”

Others, though, missed the social aspect of the farmers market, and in June, the market opened on Tuesdays for walk-up customers. In July, Saturday became an in-person market day, too.

Market leaders put protocols in place to keep everyone safe— masks had to be worn, of course, and colorful dots on the ground guided customers to social distance. They also added empty tables in front of vendors’ stands so customers couldn’t handle the products themselves.

Tables were “premium” among new supplies the market needed to function— and many of those new tables were funded by a Small-Scale Farm Grant from Kentucky State University. The second grant the Franklin County Farmers Market has received from Kentucky State, it funded the purchase of tables, black crates to hold customer orders, and a bigger trailer to store all the new supplies.

In the second week of September, the farmers market had been on its Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday schedule, partially online and partially in person, since July.

“We’ve continued that, which was a little bit of a relief,” Lemley said. “Because for a while, it felt like we were redesigning the farmers market every couple of weeks, which was exciting but also exhausting.”

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On Tuesday, September 8, seven vendors were set up at the market, all on one side of the pavilion to allow a safer flow of foot traffic. Even before the pandemic, Tuesdays were often the market’s slowest day.

Saturdays, a busier day, had still been "too scary for me," said one customer to Lemley as they chatted over produce. Lemley is the owner of Cedar Ring Greens, a small certified organic vegetable farm that focuses on "having greens year-round." "That's right, you have the grandbaby who loves tomatoes," Lemley said to another customer as she ordered. Even under masks, Lemley said she sees a lot of familiar faces at the market.

“That’s right, you have the grandbaby who loves tomatoes,” Lemley said to another customer as she ordered. Even under masks, Lemley said she sees a lot of familiar faces at the market.

Next to Lemley was Scott Darnell at Happy Jacks' booth; Darnell is the brother-in-law of Happy Jacks owner Lee Ann Jones. It was Darnell's first season working at the market; due to COVID, he had been laid off from his job as a chef for the Kentucky Center for Performing Arts. Happy Jacks produce, he said, had been “all over” his menu.

On Lemley’s other side was Jack Kuhn of Kuhndog Ridge Farm. While Lemley said Cedar Ring Greens’ sales were up from the previous season, Kuhn’s main product— honey—was consistent but “more of a challenge.”

The market used to be a social gathering, he said, where people would wander around and visit until they found something to buy. Because of health concerns, people were more purposeful with their market shopping— and “honey is more of an impulse buy,” he said.

At the end of the pavilion was Bagdad Blooms owner Sue Dempsey, in a floral skirt and paisley mask that matched her bouquets. Dempsey is also a recipient of a Kentucky State University Small-Scale Farm Grant, which funded a cooler—"certain flowers like to be cool."

had adapted as best they could to what Kuhn called “a 100-year event.”

“It’s a whole new world,” Dempsey said— but, mostly, the same farmers market.

Dempsey was coming to Frankfort on Tuesdays and going to Louisville on Saturdays; she had decided not to sell online with the Franklin County Farmers Market. Selling flowers online was a challenge, she said, because “each bouquet is different.”

For more information about the Small-Scale Farm Grant Program, contact Joni Nelson at joni.nelson@kysu.edu.

“If you hate purple and get a purple bouquet, you’re not going to be very happy,” she said, so she only sold in person.

After a spring and summer of reimagining the farmers market, vendors at the Franklin County Farmers Market had adapted as best they could to what Kuhn called “a 100-year event.”

-Connie Lemley, vendor and board member

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