


Owner: Joshua Buchheit The goal at J Buchheit Farm is to produce a high quality beef in a sustainable environment. Their cattle is grass fed, grazing on pastures free of chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. In addition the beeves are never given antibiotics, hormones, or growth stimulants. Lick Creek Beef can be found in many places around Carbondale! For more information visit the Lick Creek Beef...

Matt Thompson, 19 (L) and Scott Albert, 25 (R) offer insight into the different types of salmon they sell to one of their customers. Thompson is a junior at SIUC majoring in forestry. He goes on fishing trips to Alaska with his fishing company Wild Alaskan Salmon. “Sometimes I’m gone for 2 or 3 months at a time, but it’s great working out there...

Maxine Leydon, 76, sets up her art work stand at the west Murdale Farmer’s Market in Carbondale, IL. She takes painting courses at John A. Logan College. “I always used to paint, but never thought I could sell any of them,” said Leydon. “My style is sort of like interpretations of other famous paintings that I put my own flavor on,” said Leydon. She...

Stefan Santiago, 21 (left, fiddle player), Max Murphy, 26 (right, guitar), Ryan Martini, 24 (back right, bass), and Matt Decker, 25 (sitting, guitar) frequently lead the Murdale Farmer’s Market entertainment line up. Much of what they play is improvised on the spot. “Me and Max always try to sing over each other and change the words while we’re playing, the trick is to not...


Kelley Hessian, owner and pasta maker for K’Noodles, pulls and separates her strands of tomato basil fettuccine as they come out of the pasta maker. Along with many other types of noodles, they have a vast array to sell at the West Side Farmers market every Saturday. “When it comes to pasta making, you have to keep yourself focused on the machine and your...

Ryan Baker, 28 and Katie Perrish, 27 sell their pickled products at the Murdale Farmers Market (West Side) in Carbondale, IL. Everything they sell is pickled. “My dad started to pickle things like asparagus and raspberries, and brought them to people, and they loved them. So, he started to increase the amount of food being pickled, and long story short that’s how we got...


Located at 1565 Bethel Church Rd. in Cobden Illinois. The farm consists of over 350 head of bison owned and operated by Clifton Howell & family. For bison meat purchases, please make an appointment. Check out more! Bison Bluff Farms, owned and operated by Clifton Howell and his family, is located on approximately 1,100 acres in rural Cobden, Illinois. We stated in 1997 with...

Karl Sweitzer III holds cherry peppers and habanero peppers freshly picked from the crops surrounding him. At his farm in Cobden, Illinois Sweitzer grows a cast array of different kinds of peppers all in different degrees in hotness. Habaneros, imn particular are rated amount the hottest peppers in the world which makes harvesting them quite difficult. Fortunatly, Sweitzer claims the peppers, ” don’t really...

Photos and Story by: Keturah Tanner Whether it’s a road-side stand, a table at the Farmers Market, or a brand new building, you can find some of the best fruit right here in Southern Illinois. Find out more about how this family found out the true meaning of “the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.” Howard Mileur’s mother and father planted Mileur Orchard...



The Local Organic Gardening Initiative of Carbondale, LOGIC, has been a part of Southern Illinois University for 5 years and has offered fresh produce and a growing environment. LOGIC’s goal is to produce food to be sold at the Carbondale farmers’ markets as well as SIU dining halls. Any food not sold is returned to the LOGIC farm to be composted. LOGIC attends the Carbondale farmers’...

A seventh generation, the Marcoot Family Creamery have been making their cheese and selling them locally at the West Side Carbondale Farmers Market for years and will for years to come. Stop by the Marcoot Cheese Factory for a tour and see just how they make their delicious cheeses! A long lasting generation of cheese makers is right in your town, check them out...


Mike “Mushroom Man” Hatfield, 31, owns and operates a farm and upscale mushroom grow op. He specializes in gourmet mushrooms, with the majority of them being Oyster and Shiitake. He lives on the farm with his wife Jessica and their daughter Iris. He’s been on the farm for six years and sees no end in sight. “I never saw myself doing this for a...

A whiteboard at the USDA service center in Murphysboro still has Kenny Fisher’s name listed among the staff though “permanent vacation” is written next to it. Kenny retired last June, but still works in conservation as a local beekeeper. With 10 hives, Kenny and his wife Phyllis collect honey for themselves and also sell some at the Carbondale Farmer’s Market. This was the first...