Longford Farmer's Market: John Yorke's farm-fresh produce

With an increase in the number of people being mindful of the direct effect on their health as a result of the quality of food they eat, coupled with the enormous push back against ingredients like palm oil, as well as talk of the Mercosur Deal inviting hormone-laden beef into the Irish market, it’s no surprise to learn that farmer's markets are now growing in popularity.

This popularity is expected to surge in the near future. In the latest issue of the Longford Leader, we chat with the stall holders of the farmers market in Longford Town, which runs every Friday morning in Market Square.

Farm-fresh fruit and vegetables: John Yorke

Moydow farmer John Yorke has been selling farm fresh vegetables and fruit at his stall in the market for 10 years now. His produce is massively popular, often with a queue of people at his stall hoping to bring home a variety of delicious goods. 

Explaining how he first became involved in the market, John said, “My dad Jack Yorke, he turned 81 in September, and he would have been part of the original crew who first set up the town farmer’s market down in Temperance Hall." 

“When my dad first started I was probably around 17. My main memory from his first day at the market was how happy he was after selling out of everything. He thought he had brought far too much produce but he sold out, and rang home for us to start bringing in more." 

"We packed the car full and then later on, we had to get a van to use each week. Dad was there from the beginning and was very interested in it all the way through. He would have gone to all the meetings and brought me with him as well. When his time at the market came to an end, I took over from him.”  

Married to Shauna, they have two young children, Serena and John. On John’s farm, he says they do mixed farming, namely sheep, dairy, dry stock, and “a little bit of grain” as well for good measure.

John says the popularity of farm markets has been growing, with staples such as potatoes always a firm favourite. 

“You don’t know if there’ll be a call for something until you have it. Last month for instance, I had a lot of people coming in looking for plums. Plums were serious goin’. I was completely sold out. The most popular items would be carrots and broccoli. Small broccoli for some reason is number one, don't ask me why!” he laughs.

 “Potatoes would always be something you'd sell a certain amount of every week. What I notice with younger people, maybe it's just my opinion, but potatoes would be getting more popular with them. When I first started, it was usually the older generation who would go for potatoes but that has completely changed.”  

John adds, “It's lovely meeting people here every week. The market is a once-a-week thing for me and like they say, it's good to get out and meet people; it's an education in itself. Everyone has something different they like to chat about.” 

The farmer's market is located in Longford Town's Market Square and runs every Friday from 9am until 2pm.

For anyone who wants to get involved in trading at the Longford Farmer's Market: 

New traders are always welcome to apply for a stall, so if you’re considering joining the farmer's market, here Shirley O'Halleran explains what’s involved:

“We’re getting busier so we would absolutely welcome  new traders. We have an application form process. It's also a stipulation with our licence that it's food traders only and as we want to keep each stall different, new stalls would have to have something different to what’s already here."

"If anyone wants to speak with us, we're here at the market every Friday morning, from 9am until 2pm, and are happy to help in whatever way we can.”

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