Stuebner location open April - August Rayford location open March - November
About
Produce
Mike Watthuber and the Farmers Daughter (Stacey Theiss) met in 1993. Throughout there relationship they worked the occasional Sunday at the original location off Stuebner Airlines. Mike grew up working at a grocery store with his father and learned all of his tricks of the trade. Both of them having knowledge in the agricultural business and seeing the demand in local homegrown produce, they decided to open a stand on the weekends, working around their other day jobs in 1998. This business blossomed into a full time, 7-days-a-week market in 2003.
Our original selection was limited to what we had growing on the farm incudling corn, tomatoes, squash, beens, and greens. As The Market grew, and the demand for a bigger selection increased, we started carrying fresh fruits and vegetables that we sourced from the Farmers Market in downtown Houston which Staceys dad was a long time member of and served as president. We added cantaloupes and watermelons, peaches and strawberries and much more. Now our inventory has grown to include tropical things such as pineapples, avocados, bananas, ect. From starting out with less then 15 items, strictly homegrown, to now over 100 produce items, we have expanded our horizons and added canned good, Rusic furniture, and our increasingly popular plants.
Plants
When we located off Sawdust road, we shared a lot with a small nursery and saw how much the flowers complimented the produce. When The Market relocated to the Rayford location, we went out seperate ways and we decided to take on the challenge of selling our own plants. Not knowing very much about plants other then what looked appealing, we had help from a friend who educated and gave us the knowledge to get started. We first started with a small variety of hanging baskets and potted plants including hibiscus, petunias, and geraniums. We sorced these plants from a handful of sellers, which helped aid the growth of expansion. We branched out by adding mixed pots and hanging baskets, huge Boston ferns, beautiful mums, herbs, fruit and citrus trees. We still have a lot to learn and expanding to do in the plant feild, so come watch us grow ;-)
Rust and Sawdust
Because the produce business was only open 6 months out of the year when we started and the bills didnt stop coming in, Mike and Stacey found another way to provide for their growing family. In 2004, we rented a space at Fredricksberg Trade days, and sold handcrafted items including, Coolers, wooden furinture, rustic flags and texas cutouts. This rustic furniture and decoration was a huge hit! they sold out at there first show and took this on as there secondary source of income traveling all over Texas and even Oklahoma. Today we travel little less, but we offer a selection of our rustic items at The Market.