Farmer's Market Launch Delayed At Least Another Month

For those who anticipated buying fruits and vegetables Saturday morning at Mayfield Heights’ own version of a , you will have to wait at least another month.

Organizer Rodney Shaia has delayed opening the market until around August because he’s still having a hard time attracting produce vendors to his location at the in the parking lot by the ballparks.

The Farmer’s Market was scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to noon this morning, but it lacks the produce vendors needed to make it work successfully. So far, the market has between eight to 10 commitments, pretty much . But it needs between 15 to 20 vendors to be successful, Shaia said.

“We’re still waiting to hear back, but like I said, some of these farmers don’t have the manpower for more than one market on a Saturday,” Shaia said.

In late April, that opened the door for the outdoor market that resembles the kind of weekly local shopping in Shaker Square, Hudson and Geauga County.

Despite getting approval at the time, Shaia was concerned then that there wouldn’t be enough time to get the market up and running for the summer.

Shaia of Lyndhurst has seemingly had his concerns realized.

“If we hear something back within the next couple of weeks, we might try to do it for one month. … We’re just feeling it out. This is our first year. If we can’t do it this year, for sure, next year we’ll be ahead of the schedule. We’ll be in good shape,” Shaia said.