Hot Springs Village residents will be happy to see its farmers market return in May. The Green Market will be open for business on May 21 at Grove Park located at 1105 DeSoto Blvd.. Every Thursday the market will be open for 4 hours in the morning from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. through the end of September.
 

Social Distancing will be practiced along with following the Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) guidelines which include discouraging any vendor from attending the market while sick as well as discourage multi-family member shopping. Single person shopping is heavily encouraged. Vendors should be spaced to at least 10 feet apart and the 6 feet of social distance should also be adhered to. The way the market is set up should address any places that people would be gathering needlessly and traffic should flow in one direction as much as possible so that these places do not occur. Signs at these markets should be placed to remind people about the social distancing procedures along with other rules that the ADH has put forth. 

Vendors should consider implementing a pre-order or delivery option in order to minimize the amount of people attending the market in person. Since the ADH has suggested a no “self-serve” policy to limit the amount of people who have touched the products, vendors should consider pre-packaging produce. In concern of payment there should be attention paid to how it is handled. Hands should be washed or sanitized between payments and if contactless payment is possible that should be preferred. There should also be opportunities available at the market for people to wash their hands with soap and water and if this is not possible then an alcohol based hand sanitizer should be used.

Ouachita Hills Farms has been open for business by taking pre-paid orders for pick-up on their website, phone orders by calling 870-342-6210 or by emailing farm@ohc.com. Orders that have been placed online can be picked up on Thursday, May 7, and Thursday, May 14, from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. at the Ponce De Leon Center parking lot so contact them now for more information! 

These are just some of the ways you can contribute to our local farmers and foster a better community!