Staff photos by Fritz Busch Comfrey farmer Darrell Platz unloads cantaloupe at the New Ulm Farmers Market near Broadway and Center Street Aug. 14. He says its been a great year to grow vegetables with plenty of rainfall. More of his cantaloupe and watermelon is shown below.

He doesn’t travel to as many places as he did years ago, but Darrell Platz of rural Comfrey still brings a good selection of fresh vegetables to the New Ulm Farmers Market two times a week.

A good share of the farmers market attendees can be found looking at his produce that includes watermelon, green peppers, cantelope, sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, zucchini, kohlrabi, onions, cabbage, radishes, baked goods and jams.

Vegetable market goers from nearly 30 years may remember he and his family at markets in New Ulm, Springfield, Redwood Falls, St. James, Mountain Lake, Windom, Marshall, Comfrey and North Mankato.

“Going to all those farmers markets helped us send our children to college. Now they have good jobs in Mankato and near Sioux Falls,” said Platz.

Bringing vegetables to the New Ulm Farmers Market just south of Center and Broadway is one of his favorite places to go.

“People see me from Broadway. I’ve had semis stop nearby, drop off a person who comes and buys a watermelon or muskmelon from me,” he said.

“Produce this year is a bit better than recent years. This year, we’ve had plenty of water so I have not irrigated anything. No flood. Our biggest rainfall this year was four inches,” he said.

Platz said cucumbers, kohlrabis and tomatoes were the biggest sellers until a couple weeks ago when watermelons and muskmelons were ripe.

New Ulm Farmers Markets are held 2:30 to 5:30 p.m. Thursdays and 9 a.m. to noon Saturdays.

He said he and his wife farm 600 acres. They plan to continue farming corn and soybeans for a few years, but they are thinking about retirement.

“We’ve lived a very busy lifestyle. We don’t know how to slow down. Farmers markets are a lot of manual labor. A lot of lifting, which I can handle for a while yet,” said Platz. “Up to now, we only took winter vacations. We hope to take some summer vacations in the future. We love Minnesota and plan to keep living here.”

He said his wife Jolene worked swing shifts at 3M in New Ulm for several years before deciding to farm with the family so she could spend more time with the kids.

“We had four kids who all helped us with farming. My parents helped us farm too,” said Darrell.

“We really appreciate all the business we’ve received at New Ulm farmers markets for many years,” he said. “When farming was tough, farmers markets helped subsidize our income.”

Farmers markets keep money in the community, as local purchases often circulate money locally and create job opportunities, according to the Farmers Market Coalition.

They also offer fresh, seasonal produce that can lead to healthier eating habits, promote organic and sustainable farming practices, often resulting in less use of pesticides and chemicals.

Farmers markets foster social connections among communities, can serve as venues for local events, workshops and educational programs about nutrition and sustainability, reduce carbon footprints and encourage sustainable agriculture practices that can benefit local ecosystems.

Local growers selling locally create 13 full-time farm operator jobs per $1 million in revenue earned. Those that do not sell locally create three jobs.

Three out of every four farmers selling at farmers markets say they use organic practices.

Farmers markets have grown recently, from less than 2,000 in 1994 to more than 8,600 markets registered in the USDA Farmers Market Directory.

Many farmers markets accept Women, Infant and Children (WIC) Farmers Market Nutrition Program vouchers and participate in the Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP).

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/New UlmFarmersMarket/ and https://farmersmarketcoalition.org/the-benefits-of-farmers-markets/