After a major fire and a string of bad luck, the new owners of the historic Symons Valley Ranch have turned things around and brought it back to life.
The property houses the city’s newest farmer’s market that has been running for the past five weeks.
Management says they tried something different with this market. “Working with the historic elements of these beautiful old buildings, we said ‘what can we do to create polished agriculture?’ So we walked through what people would want in their grocery basket,” said Darrell Lomick, Symons Valley Ranch manager.
Patrons of the market say that it’s important to get great produce, but another part of the draw is the knowledge of where their meat comes from.
“There’s this groundswell that coming that says ‘we want humanely raised meat,” said Sheila Hamilton of Sunworks Farm.
The new market is also a hit with parents. “It’s an adventure for them,” says mom Rachel McKenna. “We see different things every time and we allow them to pick out the groceries they want to eat for the week.”
There is also an RV park and storage on the Symons Valley Ranch.
The indoor portion of the market remains open year round.
