Opening Day 2012!

Opening day seems to have been a great success from all the vendors i've spoken to. We were not able to be there but I hear that lots of goodies were sold...some old faces and new faces were there as always....

I always love the start of market...it gives me the chance to see all of my friends that I haven't seen since last fall....we do a lot of catching up...chit chatting and laughing...I really love how the market brings us all together for a few months out of the year.

I love that I can see some of THE cutest kids who were infants back in our first season who are now almost 4 years old with new siblings...just goes to show that we are now in our 4th season and time goes too fast.

I hope you all stopped by for some beautifully hand crafted Artisan goods. from .Zensations soaps and lotions...to upcycled products and felted soaps from Shambala Farms...to some of Casa Del Suri's fabulously warm socks...Willow Fen Farms delicious bread that I can't wait to scoop up this weekend (plus Pam usually has some fantastic Chevre and Goat meat!)...to Natures Bounty organic and delicious products.

You can also find some fantastic dips at Elaines (Grammas Mustard is to die for!)..A Long Time Coming Farm cakes, canned goodies and fresh pastured chicken....Jonas & Suzannes delicious baked goods and Margaret Froebels cookies and detergent...

So remember...from produce to fruit to popcorn to flowers, pickles,meats & cheeses, artisan goods, hot roasted peanuts and pies....we try to offer the local community the best and highest quality products we can!

We really do have SO much to offer from our local farmers market....produce will be coming in before you know it...we will be there with seedlings and other goodies this weekend and I think I can speak for all of us vendors that we look forward to seeing you all each week...because remember..there is always something new each week at the Hillsdale Couunty Farmers Market!!!

So please come out and support your local farmers and artisans...we strive to provide you with the best products we can...always buy local first...and know where your food comes from!

Farmers Market Season 2012

...is just 4 days away! I think its safe to say that we're all excited about the start of market!

I think all of us vendors are ready to get back into the swing of things...seeing old friends, new faces and new customers.Its amazing to see babies who came to the market when we started back in 2009 who are now 4-5 years old! I know we are geared up and ready to see what the season brings us!

Hopefully we will see YOU there as well!

Vendor Spotlight -April 2012

Meet the Zensations Team!!

Hi :)

I'm Valerie & I'm the soap maker here at ZenSations! I have 2 grown daughters, Angelica, who many of you know from the farmers market, she's my assistant as well as our jewelry designer & Ashlee who's in charge of keeping track of inventory and also helps me with the wrapping and labeling process. I also have 2 very precious grandsons, Laiken who is 7 years old and Caden is 16 months old, they fill my heart with endless happiness :) When I'm not busy making soap and other smell good things, I'm busy working in the pharmacy at Wal Mart.

Back in 2000 after much research on natural soap making I decided it was time to give it a try. I fell in love with the soap making process with my very first batch and I was hooked. I still have one single, solitary bar that I saved from my very first batch of soap, grapefruit peppermint, although the scent has started to fade, it's by far my favorite and what I like to call my soap baby. I made countless soap batches, with my own simple recipes until I found some that were worth sticking with. I strive for the gentlest formulas, I can spend hours developing a single recipe, different oils & butters, Essential, natural clays and botanicals all provide for individual properties in a soap.

Also, cleansing, conditioning, bubbly, creaminess, hardness factors all figure in for a quality bar of soap. As I got more comfortable with soap making, I started adding to my own formulations with different skin nourishing butters like shea, cocoa, aloe & mango ..adding oils such as avocado, grape seed, rice bran & olive. We also make milk soaps, goat milk, coconut milk, buttermilk, e

I used friends and family as my guinea pigs many years before I started selling to the public. For awhile I sold on Ebay but that began to be too expensive, so we started doing craft shows and then the farmers market, which we love!

So many of our customers come through word of mouth, which is fantastic, it's so nice knowing our customers love our soap so much. I love being able to sell a product that is made by me and one that I firmly believe in. It feels good knowing that when someone uses my soap they are using something that is not full of harmful chemicals and doesn't dry out their skin like the synthetic detergent bars they sell in the stores. We also make lotions, scrubs, lip balms, perfume oils and most recently have added solid lotion bars to our line which have been a strong seller. We enjoy meeting new people at the market as well as seeing all of our wonderful customers, some from as far away as Ireland :)

I could talk "soap" all day but I won't bore you to tears! So be sure to come on down to the Hillsdale County Farmers Market on Saturday from 8am-120pm every Saturday and get some of the highest quality soaps. lotions and handcrafted jewelry you can get locally!

We look forward to this market season and seeing all of you.

Welcome!

This is the first blog post for the Hillsdale County Farmers Market.

Our start date will be May 19, 2012 and we hope that you will join us each week for some amazing, locally grown, locally produced products. From vegetables to baked goods and meats to artisan goods..we have it all.

We meet in the courthouse parking lot at the Hillsdale County parking lot every saturday from 8am-12pm from mid May until the end of October.

If you'd like to vend please contact us via email (cutoff date for applications is 4/15/2012)

We hope to see you all this upcoming season!