Year-round schedule not profitable enough to stay open,
organizers say
Morgan Hill – Too much rain and too few customers led to the decision last week to close the farmers’ market from late November to early May.
“(The market) constricts too much in the winter to have enough critical mass to support the farmers,” said Jan Taylor, who works for the California Farmers’ Markets Association, a Walnut Creek-based organization that runs 10 Bay Area markets including Morgan Hill’s.
The market, held Saturdays from 9:30am-1pm at the Caltrain station near the corner of Depot and Second streets, includes 19 farmers and seven food vendors. Three years ago, it joined six other affiliated markets that stay open year-round. But lack of shoppers in the winter have made it hard for many vendors – who travel from as far away as Fresno – to turn a profit.
“After paying for gas and for me to work here, my dad, as a farmer, he doesn’t make any profit at this market for the winter,” said Natalie Ferry, of Bill Ferry Ranch, an orange-growing operation located an hour southeast of Fresno.
Ferry said lousy weather during the winter reduces foot traffic to only the most diehard market supporters.
“It’s been cold and rainy, windy,” she said, “and you spend most of your time trying to hold down your tent. It’s mainly the regular customers who come in buy, and there’s only a handful of those.”
Morgan Hill resident Eileen Sendrey, who walks to the market from her downtown home, is disappointed the market will disappear for five months. After all, she budgets time each week to shop and socialize at the outdoor event, which a changing lineup of live musicians to brighten the atmosphere.
Sendrey’s noticed the Morgan Hill’s market is somewhat thinner than several others in the Bay Area.
“People here are not as gung-ho about the farmers’ market as they are in other areas,” she said, alluding to markets in Berkeley and Campbell that are more bustling. “I understand why they’re closing it, but I’m disappointed about it. I wish more people would come out so that they would stay” open for the winter.
Nic Ruvalcaba, a vendor who runs a nursery out of Prunedale, said he’s local enough so that the risk of doing business year-round in Morgan Hill is minimal. But he knows that’s not the case for many of his colleagues.
“A lot of the vendors here aren’t local,” said Ruvalcaba, who sells freshly cut flowers at four markets. “So, it’s kind of tough for them to drive an hour or two to get here and not make any money.”
While he knows it’s not yet economical to remain open for the winter, Ruvalcaba sees potential in Morgan Hill’s market to grow larger. He said more customers have showed up the last four years, helping him build a loyal clientele.
Watching the crowds on Saturday, just a half hour before closing, Ruvalcaba said it had been a busy day.
“It’s late in the day now,” he said, motioning to hordes of shoppers as the sun shone overhead and a blues guitarist crooned in the background. “But look, even now there’s traffic.”
Local resident Marion Czeropski was among the crowd. She said the farmers’ market fills a void in her shopping routine.
“I come once a week and I shop for the whole week,” she said, adding it’s cheaper than buying produce at the supermarket. “I think a lot of people don’t even know about it.”
Added her husband, Chip: “We don’t need a third Safeway.”
Serge Tchouboukjian, of CMC Farms in Fresno, said losing the Morgan Hill market for the winter would affect his grape sales.
“It will have a small effect, of course,” he said. “We last through January.”
Ferry said closing the year-round market would affect some growers more than others.
“I mostly feel sorry for the apple guys,” she said.
Gilroy resident Sylvia Rodriguez acted surprised when told the Morgan Hill market would be hibernating for the winter.
“There are so many winter fruits,” she said, adding she frequents various farmers’ markets on weekends. “It’s going to affect the consumers.”
Virginia Sellers, who has managed the Morgan Hill Farmers’ Market since it started more than two decades ago, with five farmers behind the Wells Fargo Bank, and who refers to the operation affectionately as her “baby,” said she’s hopeful things will continue to improve.
“The town’s getting bigger,” Sellers said. “And the people really like it.”
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tb*******@mo*************.com.
