Rebecca Aird

Faces of the Main Farmers’ Market: Océane Leclair of Agricola Farms proudly displays several bunches of locally grown asparagus on opening day.Photo by Nancy Bell

May 11 was a grand opening day triumph for the Main Farmers’ Market (MFM) at its new and “forever” location on the Grande Allée Park in Greystone Village. The weather was fine, the vendors were stoked, the feeling was festive, and the two celebratory cakes were appreciatively consumed to the last crumb.

And along with an estimated 1000-plus visitors, Day 1 also reunited players from the various “eras” of the MFM.

In addition to the launch of the “new” MFM, May 11 was also the official opening of Grande Allée Park itself. This public green space was integral to the vision of both the community and Regional Group from the very early stages of planning for the redevelopment of the Oblates lands. The eventual “crown” of the Grande Allée – to be completed during the final stage of development at Greystone – will be the Forecourt Park at its eastern end, in front of the Deschâtelets Building.

But back to the Market – here’s a brief timeline of the tenacity, triumphs and trials that led to the current moment. After successful “pilot testing” in August 2007, the MFM saw its first full season of operation in 2008 under the stewardship of Sustainable Living Ottawa East (SLOE). Founding contributors were many, but notably included Sean Whittaker, Akua Shatz and Sarah Rowe. Chantal Beauvais, Vice-Rector at Saint Paul University (SPU) at the time, did some heroic track-clearing to enable the community to use the main parking lot at SPU.

Range of hosts for MFM

For seven seasons, SPU served as the home for MFM, at which point the reconstruction of Main Street necessitated a move. The Museum of Nature was the unlikely but greatly appreciated “bridge” location for the subsequent two years until the move back to OOE. Unfortunately, the return timing coincided with work by SPU to resurface its parking lot. Happily, Green Door co-founder Ron Farmer, an ardent supporter of the Market from its inception, came to the rescue by offering the parking lot beside Singing Pebble Books.

The range of hosts of the MFM – a university, a national museum, a commercial proprietor, and a developer – is testimony to both the perseverance of community organizers, and the broadly recognized value and appeal of local farmers markets. At the time of its founding, the MFM was purportedly the only communityrun farmers market in Ontario; and OOE volunteers continued to operate the MFM until this year, when it was happily merged into the Ottawa Farmers Market family. In its initial few years, the MFM even functioned as a social enterprise for SLOE, in the sense that it generated some modest revenues in excess of expenses that were used to support other projects like the Children’s Garden.

Photo by John Dance

Fencing woes mar opening

Literally hundreds of volunteers saw the MFM through its many years, and all deserve appreciation. But Sue Cavanaugh and Cynthia Dwyer in particular were steady hands at the tiller through its numerous challenging transitions. Their drive to keep the market alive was given a huge boost in 2016, when Regional Group, the new owners of the Oblate lands that were to become Greystone Village, committed to hosting the Market in the Grande Allée when it was ready to open. The initial estimate pegged that timing as 2020!

Important passages seldom if ever happen without setbacks and glitches. And so it was that those involved in planning for the first Grande Allée season were exasperated to discover just weeks before opening that the Market would not initially be permitted to operate at full capacity due to the vulnerability of the new sod and grass seed on the south side of the Grande Allée, where tall fencing remains in place.

Vendors, shoppers enthusiastic

As noted by Capital Ward Councillor Shawn Menard, who joined in at the opening day festivities: “The community has been waiting a long time for this green space, and we want to see it fully utilized.” His office had already received many complaints about the fencing and is working with staff to hasten its removal, which will coincide with the transfer of ownership of the Park from Regional Group to the City. The goal is for vendors to be lining both sides of the Grande Allée – as originally intended – by early summer.

Meanwhile, though, opening day did accommodate 30 of the total 45 confirmed vendors for this season, and marketgoers were enthusiastic. John Reilly-Roe and his young family, who made the trip over from the Glebe, expressed the widely shared view that “the new location is awesome.” Others noted that the set-up is intimate in feeling, yet spacious, easy to navigate, and appealingly shade dappled. Rebecca Grace and Gerry Grace, who moved into Greystone three years ago, love that they can “leave the door and be here in two minutes.” They enjoyed both the pleasure of getting to know the vendors, and the satisfaction of using their buying power to support the hard work and unique offerings of local producers. Yolande Mennie, a market goer since the very first year of the MFM, was happy to see the opportunity for expansion afforded by the new location, and optimistic that expanded choice will attract more customers.

The opening day vendors were also very pleased. For Steve Roberts, proprietor and chief beekeeper of The Barking Bee, this first year as a MFM vendor is off to a great start with good sales and good conversations with market-goers curious to know more about who makes the honey (the bees, not Steve)! Nate Hevvel of Kings Lock Distillery is also a first timer but already enthusiastic about the location and the clients.

Main Farmers’ Market volunteers celebrate a successful launch at Grande Alleé Park. FRONT ROW (l to r): Ian McDonald, David Coyne, Cynthia Dwyer, Greer Knox, Brett Weddle; BACK ROW (l to r): Jamie Brougham, Sue Cavanaugh, Susan Young, Rebecca Aird, Christine MacIntyre.
Photo by Nancy Bell

For Sue Cavanaugh, outgoing MFM chair, and Steph Kittmer, general manager of the Ottawa Farmers Market, this day was the sweet reward of their collaborative efforts to bring the MFM under OFM’s management, and to establish a flourishing future for the Market at the Grande Allée. For Kittmer, “Taking on the Main Farmers’ Market was a natural given that our producer-only mandate and even our vendor selection have overlapped for many years. It’s been a rewarding experience to help the Main Street Farmers’ Market get settled in its forever home.”