|
In the Fall of 2007, two young mothers who grew up in Tomball, TX were discussing their frustrations of having to pack up their kids and drive into downtown Houston Farmers markets weekly to purchase local produce, meats and prepared foods. Growing up with Tomball, TX they knew Tomball had many local farming community nearby. They decided to have a community meeting to see if anyone else in the area would be interested in a having a truly local farmers market.
Not surprisingly there was a lot of interest in having a truly local farmers market here in Tomball, TX. There was so much interest the ladies had to move the original meeting place to Tomball Bible Church to accommodate all the people who wanted to attend. They polled those in attendance to ask our community what they really wanted most from a Texas Farmers Market. The Tomball community overwhelmingly wanted truly local fresh produce, meats, local prepared foods & local artisans that would be a compliment to the Tomball Farmers Market. The City of Tomball was meeting at the time to discuss future plans and projects to revitalize Old Town Tomball. Many small businesses in Historic Old Town Tomball had really been struggling to compete with big box stores in the area. Sarah and Tiffany went to our Tomball City Council to ask if a local farmers market was viable option to projects planned to revitalize Old Town Tomball. The City of Tomball loved the idea and gave the moms their blessing to put together a local farmers market in our beautiful town. Subsequently, the first board members of Tomball Farmers Market was established. Sarah Starnes, Tiffany Evans, Lane McCarty, April Zimmerman and Norman Thompson. And they started putting together next steps for making our Tomball Farmers Market a local success and paved the way for it's success. Listening to the local farmers and community they decided TFM should maintain a 51% farm to non-farmer ratio to stay true to being a local farmers market and not a crafters market. |
Next, the board needed a space to have farmers and local crafters and food preparers set up once a month. They turned to Dr. Rodney Hutson long time resident of Tomball and the Hutson Group who owns and manages graciously agreed to allow us the use of his lot on the corner of Cherry St. & Main St. (FM 2920).
May, 2008 Tomball Farmers Market debuted for the first time! There were only six vendors in attendance that first weekend. By August 2008 the market went from being open only on the 2nd Saturday of the month to the 2nd & 4th Saturdays of the month. It has been a great year for tomatoes and our local farmers had a lot to offer. By September our market grew to 10 vendors. TFM was open every other week From April to October. In 2011, local farmers were blessed with HUGE produce harvest and livestock growth. In Houston, farmers often get a 3rd season year round. The board met with our farmers and decided to open our local farmers market every Saturday. Beginning in 2012 we became a year round Saturday local Houston Metro Area Farmers Market. We weekly had around 20 to 25 vendors weekly in the grass lot on corner of Cherry St and Main Street in Old Town Tomball. In 2014, due to increased interest in shopping for local produce, meats and artisan prepared foods we quickly outgrew the grass lot. W met with the City of Tomball to discuss options where we could continue to grow with the increased interest. They had recently purchased the lot on the opposite corner of Cherry St and Main and we officially moved across the street to where we are now. We now can accommodate up to 70+ vendors every Saturday and we continue to provide a true local farmers market that is within walking distance to many unique shops & small business restaurants. Tomball, tx is truly a hidden gem. |