As sunny days return, so do the farmers markets. Since 2013, the Pickerington Farmers’ Market has supplied local produce, treats and more to Pickerington residents. If you haven’t hit your first market this year, here are a few familiar faces to look out for.
Serbennia Davis
Jams and jellies
Serbennia Davis has been a vendor at markets including Pickerington, Grove City, Hilliard and Grandview since 2023.
She started out making apparel, but after her husband, Jeffrey, came home with a box of peaches, she saved the fruit by making jelly and took 24 four-ounce jars of the spread to a craft show.
“I sold out in two hours. I didn’t realize that people like jelly that much,” Davis says. “So I became the Jelly Lady. I put down my sewing machine and picked up my pots and pans.”
Serbennia Davis
Besides jams and jellies, Davis sells her husband’s baked goods, which include caramel turtle brownies and several flavors of ooey-gooey butter cake.
While Jeffrey bakes at night, Davis spends the day making her jellies and jams from fresh fruit.
“I have to schedule myself and make sure nothing else is going on,” Davis says. “It’s time-consuming. It’s a lot of work, but it’s a labor of love.”
Davis says she rotates between farmers markets, where she enjoys meeting new people, vendors and customers alike. She ultimately hopes to expand her business, especially to meet unique customer requests.
Sweet treats
Robin Beyer
A familiar face returning to the Pickerington Farmers' Market is baker Robin Beyer, who runs A Few of My Favorite Things, LLC in Canal Winchester.
She started it more than 20 years ago as a means to work at home while raising her daughters. She found inspiration for her business name from early customers.
“I had so many people, the first couple of years of my business, they said, ‘Boy, that’s my favorite thing.’ Like, ‘Oh, that's my favorite cookie,’ ‘Oh, my favorite pie,’ or ‘My favorite bread.’ And I thought, ‘Wow. That’s some of your favorite things,’” Beyer says. “When people think about a favorite thing that they like, maybe a piece of something I can do can help bring that favorite thing home.”
Over the years, Beyer has kept a record of every farmers market, helping her to recognize patterns that influence business, such as holidays and weather patterns. She says key lessons include learning her own limitations and setting expectations with customers, particularly when it comes to seasonal goods, such as one of her favorite dishes, peach pie, which she usually makes mid to late summer.
For Beyer, who also supplies goods for a local coffee shop near her, she loves the interaction farmers markets offer.
“It is like a family community and even if you go to a new market... you start to get to know some people and where their background is, other vendors or just people in the community that you might not have seen in a while and you’re reconnecting,” Beyer says. “I think it’s just a really neat space to be able to do that.”
Bee-yond the honey
Jerry Hinton
Jerry Hinton has been a longtime vendor at the Pickerington Farmers’ Market through his business, Hinton Apiaries. He established the business in 2009 following a career in the medical field.
With his uncle, Morris, who introduced him to beekeeping, Hinton manages around 100 hives.
He brings seasonal varietal honey and beeswax products to farmers markets and events where he converses with customers and shares information on beekeeping, such as where to acquire local honeybees.
“When I recognize that interest is there, I start fanning the flames of the fire. I start giving them some tips and answering questions and telling them how they can get started and whatnot,” says Hinton.
While Hinton enjoys supplying customers with tasty honey, he says ultimately, the bees come first.
He says beekeeping is hands-on and doesn’t leave room for procrastination, especially due to the threat of Varroa mites, but he says he finds enjoyment in the science of beekeeping and the work itself.
“For the first two years, every time I’d get into the hives, I’d forget everything... but year three, it just all clicked,” Hinton says. “Now, when I’m surrounded by thousands of bees, it’s like a Nirvana moment... and I’m helping the environment in my mind’s eye.”
Amanda Stevens is a contributing writer at CityScene Media Group. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
