SCRANTON — Rows of fruits and vegetables of many varieties lined the vendor stalls at the Scranton Co-Op Farmers Market as people shopped on the market’s opening day Friday afternoon.
But missing from the stands filled with squash, cucumbers, potatoes, green beans, cabbage, onions, strawberries, raspberries and flowers for sale were corn and tomatoes.
As the market’s 86th season gets underway, vendors at the market say weather conditions mean the corn and tomatoes they sell at the market had to be planted later than they expected.
They said rain in the spring made it challenging to plant the crops this year.
“The rain was very bad, you couldn’t get into the fields,” said Margaret Thorpe, who works at the Hoppy’s Produce stand. “If you plant when it’s wet out, it just squashes everything down. … You can’t really plant in the mud.”
Clay LaCoe, owner of Farmer Bucky in Ransom Twp., said he was able to get some crops planted in April but wasn’t able to in May because of the rain.
“It comes too much and too often,” LaCoe said.
He said the longer he waits to plant, the fewer days are left to grow, and he had to wait until June to plant corn and tomatoes. LaCoe expects to have corn and tomatoes for sale at the market in a few weeks.
Thorpe said while Hoppy’s Produce, located in Falls Twp., was able to grow tomatoes, they ran out of them quickly on Friday, something she said hasn’t happened in past years.
“We were swarmed,” she said.
Gathered to cut the ribbon to open the 2025 Scranton Co-Op Farmers Market season are, from left State Rep. Kyle Donahue, D-113, Scranton; Elizabeth Bonczar, Beta Bread Bakery; Janice Sleboda, Lucchi Wine Cellars; Lena Peregrim, Miller’s Orchard Farm Market; Logan Broyan, Broyan’s Farm Produce; Jason Schirg, Jim’s Farm Produce; Thom Welby from state Rep. Bridget Kosierowski’s office; Logan Brace, Brace’s Orchard and president of the market; Lee Ann Hopkins, Hopkins Farm; Andrew Hopkins, Hopkins Farm; Mark Hopkins, Hoppy’s Produce; Nolan Trently and Jennifer Fitzpatrick from state Sen. Marty Flynn’s office. (Submitted)
People shop at the Michael’s Farm Market stand at the Co-op Farmers Market in Scranton Friday, July 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Joe Healey, of Scranton, carries his daughter Ivy, 9, as they stroll through the Co-op Farmers Market in Scranton Friday, July 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Apples from Heller Orchards are put out for sale on the opening day of the Co-op Farmers Market in Scranton Friday, July 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Doug Smith’s Dixieland All-Stars play at the Co-op Farmers Market Friday. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
People wait in line for refreshments at the Co-op Farmers Market in Scranton on opening day Friday, July 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
People walk through the Co-op Farmers Market in Scranton Friday, July 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Andrea Heller, of Heller Orchards, portions out produce to sell at the Co-op Farmers Market in Scranton Friday, July 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Gene Badwak, of Peckville, plays guitar for passersby on the opening day of the Co-op Farmers Market in Scranton Friday, July 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
People shop for produce at the Co-op Farmers Market in Scranton Friday, July 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Assistant for Hartman Farms Kate O’Neil puts out flowers during the Scranton Co-op Farmers Market Friday. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Logan Brace, of Brace’s Orchard, puts out apples on the opening day of the Co-op Farmers Market in Scranton Friday, July 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Chris DeCicco, of Clarks Summit, cooks hamburgers and hot dogs on the opening day of the Co-op Farmers Market in Scranton Friday, July 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Members of Doug Smith’s Dixieland All-Stars play at the Co-op Farmers Market Friday. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Green beans are for sale at the Co-op Farmers Market in Scranton Friday, July 18, 2025. (SEAN MCKEAG / STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER)
Mike Adamchik, who works at Michael’s Farm Market of Shickshinny, also expects to start selling corn and tomatoes later in the month.
The vendors said the unfavorable weather hasn’t deterred them from planting this year.
“You take the good with the bad,” Thorpe said. “That’s the way a farmer lives. That’s a farmer’s life.”
A few of the vendors were happy with the market’s first day Friday.
“We had good weather and a great turnout,” Adamchik said. “We’re selling out.”
LaCoe said the market, which the farm has been associated with since 1948, is a great place to be.
“The people in the area are very loyal to us,” he said. “They come year after year and we enjoy having them.”
Market President Logan Brace, who co-owns Brace’s Orchard in Dallas, hopes to get good crowds at this year’s three-day-a-week market, which has around 20 vendors. He said the weather hurt vegetable farmers more than it hurt him.
“Their stuff is on the ground and mine is up in the trees,” Brace said.
The weather isn’t the only issue facing the market this year. Agencies that distribute farmers market vouchers to income-eligible older adults and young families learned this spring they will receive fewer vouchers than they requested, which officials said was because of the Trump administration delivering less funding for nutrition programs than Congress appropriated.
He said he has received 50% less income from them this year compared to last year.
The market will be open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to 6 p.m. through the Wednesday before Thanksgiving.