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HomeNewsMontgomery County Farmers’ Market Alive and Well at L&N Train Station

Montgomery County Farmers’ Market Alive and Well at L&N Train Station

Montgomery County Farmers Market at L&N Train StationClarksville, TN – The Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday Farmers’ Market at L&N Train Station at 189 Tenth Street in Clarksville features local farmers and fresh produce three times a week. Fresh tomatoes–both red and green– plus black-eyed peas, turnip greens, green beans, pepper–both sweet and hot–and all kinds of other vegetables and fruits abound.

In addition, you can find canned jellies, jams, relishes, sauerkraut, and vegetables and crocheted items. Open 7:00am to 1:00pm, the official name is the L&N Montgomery County Farmers’ Market.

L&N Montgomery County Farmers’ Market
L&N Montgomery County Farmers’ Market

The people at the Farmers’ Market are regulars. One of the most popular is JoAnn Trotter, the sweet lady who bakes all the sweets and breads. She has the best pies–pecan (only $7.00!), chess ($5.00), buttermilk ($6.00), and chocolate ($6.75).

She makes cinnamon rolls you can buy individually, by the half dozen or the dozen. Chocolate chip cookies tempt you beside tiny pecan pies.

Her breads, both regular and sourdough, are famous with market goers. She tells me the night before market, she gets only one hour of sleep and this is her 12th year as a regular at the market. There is almost always a line in front of her table so get there early for the best choice of goodies.

“Miss Naomi” Williams has been at the weekly farmers’ markets for the past 27 years. Her booth features all kinds of vegetables and fruits. She says that the market used to be jumping but many of the older people who were regulars have become too infirm to get out and, of course, some have died.

“Young people don’t can food like we used to,” Miss Naomi said. “Then too a lot of people still don’t know we are down here after all these years! Our faithful few are still here every week.”

Judy Turner, who is a school bus driver during the week out at Woodlawn, is at the Saturday market every week to help out her brother who attends another market. She also brings her own canned goods and the crocheted hand towels and other items her mother makes.

“It’s a family affair,” Turner explains. “We’ve had a hard growing season this year. The weather has not cooperated and many people have had their tomatoes flooded out by all the rain. It’s been a bad summer for farmers but we bring the best that we have.”

Deanna Haywood was shelling black-eyed peas. “When you enjoy what you’re doing, it’s never hard. I’ve been here 25 years and it would have been longer but I took off three and a half years to look after a grand(child). Every week I go to different farms looking for the best produce and then bring it to the market three times a week. I love riding around the countryside and meeting people. It keeps you out of trouble!” she quipped.

The Farmers’ Market is a treasure for Clarksville people who like fresh fruits and vegetables and great desserts and breads. The reports of its demise are inaccurate. The market is thriving and is well worth a trip. Yes, it’s true that fewer people are selling there than in decades past, but as Ms. Trotter says, “Nobody here is a spring chicken!”

See you at the Farmers’ Market and I’m hopefully in line in front of you!

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Sue Freeman Culverhouse
Sue Freeman Culverhousehttp://culverhouseart.com/
Author of Tennessee Literary Luminaries: From Cormac McCarthy to Robert Penn Warren (The History Press, 2013) Sue Freeman Culverhouse has been a freelance writer for the past 36 years. Beginning in 1976, she published magazines articles in Americana, Historic Preservation, American Horticulturist, Flower and Garden, The Albemarle Magazine, and many others. Sue is the winner of two Virginia Press Awards in writing. She moved to Springfield, Tennessee in 2003 with her sculptor husband, Bill a retired attorney. Sue has one daughter,  Susan Leigh Miller who teaches poetry and creative writing at Rutgers University. Sue teaches music and writing at Watauga Elementary School in Ridgetop, Tennessee to approximately 500 students in kindergarten through fifth grade. She also publishes a literary magazine each year; all work in the magazine is written and illustrated by the students. Sue writes "Uncommon Sense," a column in the Robertson County Times, which also appears on Clarksville Online. She is the author of "Seven keys to a sucessful life", which is  available on amazon.com and pubishamerica.com; this is a self-help book for all ages.
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