LEXINGTON, Ky. — Winter is not typically the time for farmers’ markets, but the state’s biggest market has a wintertime venue that features unique items – one of which is scones offered by Haley Lawson’s Wildflour Scones and Tea.

The once-British bakery delight has grown in popularity all over the world and Lawson has created a product with a value-added component: Using homegrown goods from local farmers to make something unique. The Lexington native has attended the Lexington Farmers’ Market since infancy, going with her parents as a child.

“We went every Saturday since before I could remember, seeing the farmers that are always there. I always loved it,” she said. “The farmers’ market was a big part of our weekend. We got a lot of our produce for the week.”

Families in the area have been buying produce and other goods at that market since 1975, making it not only one of the biggest but one of the oldest markets in the state.

After graduating from college, Lawson moved to San Francisco with her husband and attended culinary school for baking and pastries. After finishing her studies she worked in that area for different bakeries, knowing she wanted create dishes that were “yummy and pretty to look at.”

Additionally, she said the local food movement is very much a standard in San Francisco, and she was immersed in a variety of interesting goods she had never worked with before.

So bringing all she had learned and was exposed to back to Kentucky played a big role in the kind of business Lawson would start.

“I wanted to work for myself, and I had always loved the farmers’ market, so I wanted to do something that was baking but incorporating as much of the farmers’ produce that I could into my products,” she said.

Lawson enjoys introducing her friends and family to new foods and has incorporated that idea into her work, combining flavors such as rhubarb and strawberries, creating a surprisingly “yummy” combination.

Of course when commodities are more in season, Lawson has many items to choose from, but for the winter months, she has done research to see what things she can store and use to add to her scone recipes; fruits such as apples, pears and pumpkins were some she noted.

It’s for sure, however that the off-season months bring challenges to her creativity. “It’s a little bit difficult, but there are some cheeses that I use and I try to use local eggs when I can. It’s a little tricky in the winter, but there are enough interesting things that work,” she said.

During the winter season, the Lexington Farmers’ Market is located in the atrium of the Victorian Square Shoppes and since Lawson has been a vendor there, she said the business has been well received.

In getting started, Lawson visited local farmers from whom she had used products, with a business card and a batch of scones to let them know of her idea and win them over through their stomachs.

“I really like the idea of it – working together and showing people they can buy local products and produce,” she said.

‘There are lots of cool things you can do with it.”

For example, Lawson is working on a scone recipe hoping to use some of the local beer cheese. It is that sort of thing making a name for her business and giving local producers another venue in which to sell their products or gain exposure.

Lawson’s expectations were to sell a few scones on Saturdays, in the beginning, but she has found a regular group of customers who come to buy from her every week. She said the winter market really thrives on those regulars who visit each week.

“They welcomed me into their weekly routine, which I really appreciate,” Lawson said.

Buying local is a movement that has gained in popularity and she pointed out coming to the market is one of the best ways to find those local goods. 

The farmers’ market is the easiest way to be able to buy these local goods, and I think helping the local economy, especially farming, is so important to Kentucky’s heritage,” Lawson said. “Hopefully the people that come find the value in where their food comes from and the quality of food reflects that.”

The market has served multiple generations and Lawson said she sees many young couples bring their children, as well as those of all ages who have been doing this for a long time.

“It’s so important in Kentucky to support our agriculture community,” she said.

Lawson’s business has kept her busy this winter so she said she can’t imagine what it will be like when the growing season begins, but doing what she is doing is exactly what she envisioned when she moved back to Kentucky – a move that has proven good for her and tasty for her customers.