Carol Roper loves making "hot" and "not" jams and jellies. As a farmer and a gardener, Roper stays busy planting, harvesting and selling all types of veggies and more.
Roper, the Pea Ridge Farmers Market organizer, operates an eight-acre farm with five gardens in Garfield, known as "Heritage Gardens."
Pea Ridge Farmers Market
10 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sundays
197 Slack St.
Heritage Gardens offers a variety of products at the Pea Ridge Farmers Market, Eureka Springs Farmers Market, and the original Rogers Farmers market at the Frisco Station Mall. Roper has two categories for her jams and jellies: "hot" and "not." Raspberry Jalapeno, jalapeno, and Habanero-Pineapple are classified as "hot." Everything from Strawberry-Pineapple to apple butter is not hot or spicy, she said. The farmer/gardener enjoys creating different and delicious jams and jellies.
"When people ask me if I make all that jam and jelly, my favorite reply is, 'Yes. I put my music on and jam all day!'"
Roper also focuses on produce most vendors don't offer: Mexican sour gherkins, baby corn and tomatillos.
She also sells cabbage, peas, broccoli and grape tomatoes. She likes to take a bucket with a Roma tomato with her to show people what the plant looks like in her garden, though they aren't yet ripe.
She also offers a "deck corn" bucket which will produce corn in a bucket for people who don't have gardens. Other products include knotted blankets, homemade detergent and bandannas.
Her items -- and others -- can be found at the Pea Ridge Farmers Market on Sundays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The market offers produce, Jennifer Ivy's local honey, baked goods, McGarrah Farms' strawberries and meat and eggs from J.D. Hudson Farms.
The Farmers Market is located at 197 Slack Street.
For information, visit the Pea Ridge Farmers Market's Facebook page.
Business on 05/17/2017