Navigating through the crowds and searching for the perfect items from a selection of vendors throughout South Florida is what brings the community of Pinecrest to the Pinecrest Farmers Market every week.
Every Sunday since 2009, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., scores of people fill the Pinecrest Gardens parking lot just off Southwest 111th Street to shop, eat, and connect at the farmers market sponsored by greenmarketco-op.
The market serves as a community hub on the weekend and vendors sell a wide range of items from vegetables to dehydrated dog treats and honey products made from raw honey harvested in the Florida Keys.
Twann Wilkerson, owner of Kool Treats by Mama Dukes, has sold her Italian ice at the market for over six years and said one of her favorite things about selling there is seeing the joy on children’s faces when their parents buy them a sweet treat.
Wilkerson said that small family-owned businesses are at the core of the market’s popularity. She thinks the community has been able to help a lot of business owners realize their dreams.
“It’s truly a family-oriented community,” Wilkerson said. “The people of Pinecrest and those who come to the market are truly wonderful people and they love to support small businesses.”
Dina Guzairova, co-owner of DogDeli, is a vendor who has been selling her dog treats at Pinecrest since 2016. She loves the market and said that catching up with her regular customers and greeting their dogs highlights her day.
Guzairova said that Pinecrest is a small community and since everyone knows one another, they are supportive of the market.
“It’s a real community place and one of the biggest markets in South Florida,” Guzairova said as she handed a package of dog treats to a customer. “We just love coming here.”
Many of the vendors at the market share Guzairova’s passion for the market. The customers and sellers maintain relationships that help grow the market and bring people back the next week.
Keez Beez sells raw honey products with honey from the Florida Keys and Layla Elhenna, who works for the company, said the holiday season is the best time to be at the market.
“All year-round, the market and the community is great, but now with the holidays coming, you see more and more families coming out to the market and it’s really fun,” said Elhenna.
Lukas Hoz lives near the market and occasionally goes to buy produce and hang out with his friends. He said that the market is perfect for an area like Pinecrest and that he loves that the vendors are so welcoming to their customers.
“It’s a great place to come with a couple of friends because there is so much offered,” Hoz said. “I love that I can come here and the stands all remember me and what I normally buy. It makes me want to come back.”
