If fresh sweet corn, vine-ripened tomatoes, green peppers, and naturally cultivated onions and squash don’t entice you to frequent local farmers markets this summer, perhaps peaches, melons, baked goods, crafts, spices, specialty items, and live entertainment will. Pekin vendors will be offering an ever-changing selection of affordable, healthy, delicious items in the coming months, bringing the fresh taste of summer to your dinner table.

Most farmers markets kick off the season in June or a few weeks before, others are later in the season. Here are some Pekin favorites that are becoming regular stops on the quest for local flavor.

Pekin Farmers Market
The Pekin Farmers Market is back for its fourth season in 2024, with fresh produce, food vendors, entertainment, crafts, baked goods, handmade jewelry, and much more every Thursday starting June 6 at the Miller Center Parking lot, 551 South 14th St. Alisha Dault, Miller Center Administer and Farmers Market Manager for the Pekin Park District, said the number and variety of vendors has grown every year, with up to 25 signed up each week this season.

“This is a Park District event, so of course, it’s outside,” Alisha said. After four years of growth, “The word is out that we are serious about hosting this farmers market. It was started with the seniors at the Miller Center in mind, but it’s now very much community driven.”

The Pekin Farmers Market is open Thursdays, 3:30 to 6:30pm, from June 6 to Aug. 29. Admission is free. The market will not open on July 4. Two one-day fall markets will open Sept. 12 and Oct. 10. 

Check out how to be a sponsor or vendor at www.pekinparkdistrict.org/activities-programs/pekin-farmers-market.

Love’s Farm
In 2020, Phil and Peggy Neri expanded their family vegetable garden as a way of “sharing the bread” with neighbors in need during the COVID pandemic. In the four years since, that charitable endeavor has transformed into Love’s Farmers Market, 2818 Court St., behind The Mattress Doctor (owned and operated by the Neris since 2000).

“We named it Love’s Farm because it’s a labor of love for us,” Peggy said. “Everything we do, we do to help food pantries in the Tri-County area.”

She said they donate their time and resources to make this happen, investing more than $30,000 in renovations to upgrade the space for Love’s indoor market. To date, Love’s has used proceeds from retail sales to donate more than 50,000 pounds of fresh, locally-grown produce.

Peggy grows vegetables and herbs for the market on their farm in Pekin, just off Illinois Route 9. Love’s Farmers Market on Court Street offers fresh, naturally grown, non-GMO produce from certified farms. A large map on the wall shows the distribution of the growers and price tags show where the food is grown.

Today, Love’s Farmers Market is a seasonal market open mid-June to through September offering locally grown vegetables, fruit, honey, rainbow and brown eggs, sweet corn, juicy heirloom tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet peppers, candy onions, potatoes, zucchini and yellow squash, fresh-dug heirloom potatoes, pumpkins, melons, apples, peaches, strawberries, grapes, and much more. Specialty items like hot peppers, patty pan squash, kale, rainbow Swiss chard, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, pie pumpkins, and a vast array of fresh and dried herbs also make regular appearances. Peggy said it’s best to stop by each week to discover what’s in season.

Hours for the 2024 season are Tuesdays 4 to 8pm, Wednesdays 12 to 8pm, and Thursdays 12 to 5pm. For invitations to free tastings and food sample parties, follow Love’s Farm on Facebook www.facebook.com/lovesfarmtazewellcountyil.

Kath Family Farms
The heart and soul of any farmers market is, of course, the farmers. Jase Kath is an industrious local farmer whose offerings have built a following at the Pekin Farmers Market and elsewhere in the region. Based on an annual customer vote, this year Kath Family Farms will grow sweet corn, melons, squash, popcorn, cucumbers, brussels sprouts, Indian corn, green beans, heirloom tomatoes, asparagus, peppers, potatoes, pumpkins, gourds, garlic, onions, lettuce, and microgreens on plots near Carlock and on Red Shale Hill Road southeast of Pekin. He said he usually starts selling in July.

Jase grew up on a farm and graduated from Illinois State University in 2020 with a degree in agricultural business. He said he has known he wanted to farm since high school, so when he graduated and found good farmland available, he started his own operation.

Now encompassing about 4.5 acres, Kath Family Farms also makes specialty items like goat’s milk soap, pepper flakes, garlic powder, and powdered onions. He is working with a wholesaler who supplies Chicago Market, a community-owned grocery store selling only locally grown produce, meat, and baked goods.

Learn where and when to find Kath Family Farms produce at www.facebook.com/KathFamilyFarms

Meyer’s Produce
For more than 15 years, Pekin area residents have found sweet corn, melons, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, cabbage, green beans, and other fresh produce at the seasonal farm stand of Meyer’s Produce in the Staples parking lot, 3507 Court St.

Owner Mark Meyer said the family-run stand typically opens when sweet corn is ready, around July 4. He says 90 percent of Meyer’s produce is grown on the family farm in Manito.

“We have a good following in Pekin, they support us very well,” Mark said.

Hours for 2024 are daily and Saturday from 10am to 6pm and Sunday 10am to 5pm. Find out about availability and any changes in hours at www.facebook.com/MeyersProduce.