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Farmers’ market gets new manager

Posted on January 3, 2008 by Staff

By Jack Carley
Staff Writer

The Carrboro Farmers’ Market, like the calendar year, is changing. This year the market opens all year ‘round, starting Saturday at 9 a.m. And market manager Sheila Neal is stepping down, yielding her position to not-quite newcomer Sarah Blacklin.

Blacklin took up the job on Wednesday and is still settling into the position, but she already has a lot of experience at the market.

“I took the aspect of being a grower and also a vendor, and I’ve also had experience as a manager and as a buyer. I feel it’s really important to understand all aspects of the Farmers’ Market.”

Blacklin comes to the position with experience in agriculture, management and retail. A Tar Heel who studied North Carolina culture and graduated from UNC summa cum laude, she recently worked for two local farms, and you may have seen her selling produce on a Saturday morning for Maple Spring Gardens.

She began growing food for herself and becoming more involved with farming and now grows her own food sustainably.

“I have a little acre in Hillsborough. It’s just a backdoor garden with some produce, some free chickens. It’s small, with a small pond. It’s shrunk down for one person.”

Blacklin said farming and the market appeal to her because it allows people a glance at the production process from planting the seed to meeting the customer.

“Most people are so removed from that, I think we really should bring it back. We need to,” Blacklin said. “And it makes you proud of what you do because you’re creating a self-sufficient, sustainable life.”

Blacklin described her first day as “pretty scattered,” but she says she is excited and honored to have the job. “I think there’s a lot of growth that can happen, and it’s already a very fantastic market. So I am excited. I’m really excited.”
Former manager Sheila Neal is now working with her husband, Matt, to start Neal’s Deli in downtown Carrboro. She took time to think back on her work managing the Farmers’ Market.

“On a practical level, I learned about running a small business,” she said, and expects the experience to help her in the deli venture.

“And I enjoyed working with the community. Farmers’ markets still feel very grassroots. There’s a lot of excitement in that,” she said. “It was exciting to be there on market day and see local commerce happening.”

“I felt really connected to the town of Carrboro,” she said, because the job put her in contact with much of the town’s government and staff.

She said the farmers impressed her because they had the threefold jobs of farming, selling at the market and running a business.

“I gained a lot of respect for the farmers.”

Neal commented on the future of the market, saying “the market’s going year round. I think that’s really key.”
She said the year-round schedule was “experimental,” and that the lengthened schedule is “a good opportunity for the community,” but may face challenges because of the drought.

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