By Liz Gordon-Hancock
Bluffton Farmers Market is the place to be on Saturday mornings in town. According to the Bluffton Area Chamber of Commerce, our town "boasts the best farmers market in northwest Ohio."

In celebration of our small but mighty farmers market, the Icon will be featuring a market vendor each week over the course of the summer.

This week's feature vendor is Hilty's Farm Market.

Dave Hilty has been farming since he was "yea high," but he's not always been a farmer. He had a career as a machinist in a factory, then had his own machine shop for years. "This is a hobby now. I'm retired," said Hilty. "I just raise vegetables for people. I enjoy it."

He sells sweetcorn, tomatoes, zucchini, broccoli, cabbage, and pumpkins in a variety of sizes. Everything is hand-picked.

At his stall, there's a sign that reads "All of the Hilty farm produce is grown on my own farm and is all non-GMO."

Hilty currently has the corner on the market for sweetcorn (since Suter's is no longer selling it) but he promises the price won't change. He offers yellow and white sweetcorn, which will be available at Saturday markets for the next three weeks. He's hoping to have bicolor sweetcorn available this Saturday. But you have to get to his stall before 10 a.m. if you want any.

For those who care to know, Hilty Farm provides Biltmore, Celebrity and Goliath varieties of tomatoes.

In the coming weeks, he'll have sweetcorn and broccoli, and he's hoping his cauliflower will yield. He will continue to have pumpkins in variety of sizes available.

Hilty Farm is located at 6803 State Route 12, Columbus Grove. He sells at both Lima and Findlay farmers markets. He will be at Saturday markets for as long as his crops keep producing.  

About the Bluffton Farmer’s Market
This story is part of a summer series on Bluffton Farmers Market vendors. The market is open each Saturday through the end of October from 8:30 a.m. to noon in the Citizens National Bank parking lot, 102 S. Main St. For vendor information, contact Greg Probst, market director, at [email protected].