Starting July 2, Elk City will host a brand-new farmers market every Wednesday from 6 to 7:30 p.m. in the parking lot of Total Home Interiors, directly across from Ackley Park. Designed to bring together local growers, bakers, and small businesses, the market offers a midweek opportunity for community connection and fresh, locally made goods.
“Trying to bring the community together and support. I mean, we have so many small business owners in Elk City. So it’ll be good to help support all of them in one space, basically,” said organizer Iesha Jones.
Jones said she was inspired by the absence of a local market in such a large town. “I always have to go to Clinton [or] Weatherford to get fresh produce, and I just don’t understand why such a giant community like Elk City has never had one,” she said. “So after talking to a lot of people… I figured it might just be easy to start [it] myself.”
Getting the market launched required approvals and adherence to state guidelines. “I initially contacted the chamber, who had me call the city, and the city was good with it as long as I got permission from the extension office because the ag department,” Jones explained. “You have to file with ODAFF in order to be considered a farmer’s market, and they have very strict rules as far as [it] not be any sort of MLM product. It can’t be anything you buy and resell. It has to be something that you have made, and you are selling.”
A five-member board reviews vendor applications and ensures all goods sold are homemade or homegrown, not store-bought or resold.
There’s no weekly commitment for vendors — flexibility is built into the process. “There is no commitment. It is $10 per Wednesday. All you have to do is go to our Facebook page under the Files tab. There’s a vendor application and you just email that into us,” she said. “Elk City Farmers Market.”
The market’s timing — a Wednesday evening — was based on Jones’ own schedule and what she saw as a sensible solution for working families.
“I cook to deliver on Mondays,” she said. “I didn’t want to add another thing I needed to do on the weekends. And I know a lot of people [do] sports and all that kind of stuff on Saturdays. So I just thought it would work easier.”
Jones said the time slot has been mostly well received. “Only one person mad, so far,” she said with a laugh.
Holding the market on private property also helped bypass additional city regulations. “That’s actually why we went with doing it on private property, because it was a few other rules not doing it on city property, and so [it] would be a little easier to get it going this summer.”
As of late June, about 15 vendors had signed up. “We have several produce people. We have someone who’s going to bring fresh chicken. Someone’s going to bring fresh pork, which are both USDA-certified processing people. We have a couple sourdough people, lots of jams and jellies. Lemonade is going to be there,” Jones said. “There will be a few yeast bread people.”
While it might sound like a culinary turf war — the Yeasty Boys versus the Sourdough Squad — Jones laughed it off. “No, it’s still just as difficult,” she said. “You just get used to it. It’s easy, though.”
Still, you can imagine the showdown: wild-fermented rebels slinging crusty loaves from one end of the market while the soft, sweet cloud-bakers hold down the other. Luckily, in Elk City, there’s room for everyone — crusty, fluffy, tangy, or plain.
Jones hopes the market becomes a weekly destination. “I just want it to be like a community event,” she said. “Come and get some produce and then go take your kids and go play putt-putt [or] ride the carousel. It’s just a good area.”
With affordable vendor space, local control, and a scenic park across the street, the Elk City Farmers Market may soon become a staple of midweek life on the western edge of town.
For more information or to apply as a vendor, visit Elk City Farmers Market on Facebook and click the Files tab.
