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This year, the Maple Grove Farmers Market isn’t just encouraging shoppers to support local, it’s encouraging its vendors to do so as well. “I think the conversation around encouraging our vendors to purchase more locally or to source local ingredients comes with the fact that the scene has grown so much,” says Mao Lee, recreation supervisor for the City of Maple Grove. “We want to encourage our vendors to set themselves apart from vendors at other locations, so as a whole, we can set ourselves apart.”
Lee’s involvement with the Maple Grove Farmers Market dates back to its inception in 2004. Her family was a vendor through 2017 and sold fresh seasonal produce. In 2022, Lee joined the City of Maple Grove and started running the market. “The mission of the [Maple Grove] Farmers Market is to create this gathering place for the community to connect with the farmers to purchase locally made food,” Lee says.
This year’s emphasis on local ingredients is twofold—one is the farmers who use their own produce or byproducts to create additional wares. The second is the vendors who source local produce for their own products.
Tillering Farm creates rich tallow balms and lotion bars using trim fat from its Dexter beef cattle. Photos: Chris Emeott
Tillering Farm is an excellent example of the former. Husband and wife Rob and Samantha Heitke raise Berkshire-Mangalitsa hogs and Dexter beef cattle on their family farm in Milaca, Minnesota. The Heitkes are proud to be able to provide a unique direct selling option at the market. “Often when people buy beef or pork, they’re buying wholes or halves or quarters, which is quite expensive,” Rob says. “We like to provide the opportunity for quality meat at smaller portions.”
Direct selling also enables Tillering Farm customers to get to know the Heitkes and ask questions about their farm or processes. “Small farms have a very close relationship with the butcher shops we use, so we know exactly what we’re getting back,” Samantha says. “It’s kind of a special thing to be able to meet the people who raise the animals.”
Working directly with a butcher also gives the Heitkes the opportunity to ask for nonstandard cuts, such as suet or trim fat. “I learned probably about five years ago now that you can process that and use it to make this real thick body butter,” Samantha says. Such tallow-based skincare products have since had a viral moment thanks to their all-purpose and all-natural properties. “It’s fun to have something that we really believe is a good product,” Samantha says. “It’s easy to sell if you’re using it yourself.” Tillering Farm offers jars of tallow balm along with lip balm and lotion bars reinforced by beeswax. And yes, the beeswax is locally sourced too. “It’s from the guy two doors down,” Samantha says.
Zane Chocolates’ bars incorporate produce sourced from the Maple Grove Farmers Market.
As for a vendor who embraces supporting local farmers, look no further than Austin Hamilton of Zane Chocolates. Hamilton has done plenty of experimenting to get his chocolate bar recipes—and his wide array of flavors—just right. “I start with organic cacao beans and process them all the way into chocolate bars in a variety of pretty unique flavors,” Hamilton says. “I currently have 16 different types that I sell, and I’m constantly rotating out old ones and adding new ones.”
For Hamilton, coming up with new flavors is a highlight of the business. This can mean coming across an ingredient that sparks his curiosity or incorporating customer suggestions. His most recent creation is a dark chocolate and rosemary combo, inspired by a Rosemary Chocolate Chip Cookie. He purchases locally grown, in-season produce like basil, habanero peppers, strawberries and even garlic from neighboring vendors at the Maple Grove Farmers Market. Among his most creative flavors have been a 70 percent dark chocolate bar with ground juniper berries and a 40 percent milk chocolate bar with garlic, which was a hit at Hutchinson’s annual Minnesota Garlic Festival. Hamilton says he appreciates the close, welcoming sense of community cultivated at the market and the ability to interact with and buy chocolate bar ingredients from other local vendors.
No two weeks at the market are exactly the same. While the vendor lineup is generally consistent, there are slight variations throughout the season, depending on seasonal produce and vendor availability. The market is open Thursdays from 3–7 p.m. now through September and from 3–6 p.m. in October at the Maple Grove Community Center’s recently expanded parking lot.
Maple Grove Farmers Market
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