Brown’s Family Farm Market turns 20

ROSS TWP. — When Jody Boyd was 11, she could remember working alongside her parents to set up the fresh green beans, cucumbers, sweet corn and melons at the Brown’s Family Farm Market.

Now 20 years later, it’s still a family affair and an important part of the local produce market, Boyd said.

“There really has been a big boom recently in farmers’ markets and people trying to eat more locally-grown foods,” she said. “It’s fresher and it is better for you.”

The stand, located near where all the Brown’s Marketplace produce is grown at 11620 Hamilton-Cleves Road, was owned by other farmers for about 40 years before the Brown family took it over. The majority of the vegetables come from their farm, with supplements of candies, jams and fruits from Ohio’s Amish country, Boyd said.

Right now the best seller at the stand is asparagus, which Boyd said goes quickly because it has a short growing season. Brown’s marketplace devoted an entire acre of its fields to grow asparagus, which will be gone by month’s end.

“It’s such a brief season, the people who know it get it as soon as it is out there. There are some asparagus fanatics who will buy it and preserve it,” Boyd said.

Brown’s Family Farm Market is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.

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