MOUNT GILEAD, Ohio – The Mount Gilead downtown square was a lot busier – and younger – on a Saturday in mid-June. The local farmers market hosted its first-ever 4-H Young Growers Market.

The specialty event gave local 4-H members a unique opportunity to set up booths alongside regular market vendors, raising money for their respective clubs through donation-based sales of baked goods, flowers, fresh produce, handmade crafts and plants.

This new youth initiative is a shift toward entrepreneurship, community interaction, and passing the torch to the next generation of agricultural producers.

The idea for the Young Growers Market began brewing this past winter. Ashley Huffine, who stepped into her role as the Morrow County 4-H youth development educator in the summer of 2025, was aggressively seeking fresh, proactive ways to engage local youth. When leaders from the established downtown market reached out, the pieces quickly fell into place.

“Chelsea Dennis and Amber Barnett, who help run the Mount Gilead Farmers Market, approached me this winter about possibly doing something with them downtown,” Huffine said. “The more we talked, the more we decided that it would be a great idea for the kids to not only get out into the community but also be side-by-side with producers who do this for a full-time job or for a living.”

Fundraising has always been a core driver for local 4-H clubs, but Huffine notes that the kids rarely keep the fruits of their labor to themselves.

“Fundraising is a big thing for our clubs – they always enjoy that, and a lot of them like to take the funds and put them back into the community somehow, whether it’s through community service or things like that. That’s how the first 4-H Young Growers Farmer Market came about.”

Moving from a controlled club meeting or fair judging arena to a bustling public square comes with a learning curve. Downtown Mount Gilead hosts nearly 35 vendors every other Saturday from May to October.

Rather than being moved to a separate youth section, the kids were integrated directly into the market set-up, learning the ropes from experienced vendors.

“The kids will actually be setting up their own tables,” Huffine explained. “They’ll be next to the vendors in different areas where Chelsea and the team felt it was a good place for them to be, but they’ll actually have their own tables representing their individual clubs.”

Market organizers sent Huffine a list to distribute to clubs detailing the basic things they were looking for, and the clubs went through an application process with the farmers market itself.

“The clubs were given a list of things that they could bring – some are bringing crafts, baked goods, flowers or veggies – whatever they want,” Huffine said. “We’ve worked with the Morrow County Health Department to set it up so that it’s a way for the money to come directly back to them. It’s all by donation, so people will choose to donate to the specific booths that they feel they want to support.”

Huffine explained that this year is serving as a learning opportunity – a trial run meant to develop a long-term plan.

“I would say yes and no to formal preparation,” she said. “With this being the first year, we really wanted to see what it would look like and see what the clubs would bring. But I can say I touched base with my advisers, letting them know that I really wanted this to be a true learning experience for the kids.”

Eight 4-H clubs were initially supposed to participate; however, one was unable to attend. Despite that, organizers were delighted with the number and poise of the young participants.

“Between Chelsea and me, we were pretty excited for that turnout because, obviously, it is something very new for us,” Huffine said. “It can be a little intimidating for the kids to go out there, work on those customer service skills, and be out in the community, so we’re very happy with the number we’ve got this year.”

Huffine not only wanted to showcase crafts and foods, but also to help members understand that there are real people in the community who raise crops, meat or vegetables and are successfully making a full-time business out of it.

Huffine received feedback from several club advisers who were pleased with the results, and they hope to continue doing it next year.

Candida Doubikin, adviser for the Free-4-All 4-H Club, was thrilled with the effort to support a Cloverbuds educational project focused on aquatic life and fish care.

In 4-H, Cloverbuds is a specialized, non-competitive program designed specifically for younger children – typically ages 5 to 7 (or enrolled in kindergarten through second grade).

“We set an initial goal of raising $250 to purchase a betta fish and aquarium for each Cloverbud participant,” Doubikin said. “Thanks to the generous support of the community and the opportunity to participate in the Farmers Market, the group not only met its goal but doubled it. The additional funds made it possible to cover the cost of sending one of the group’s youth members to 4-H camp.”