Mini market offers fresh, natural products to area

Watson and Lisa Dorn came up with an idea for spreading the word about Hickory Hill Milk a few years ago, with help from neighbors in the Merriwether area, and a Wednesday tradition - rain or shine - has been the result.

A weekly mini market is held from 5 to 7 p.m. in the parking lot of Merriwether Volunteer Fire Department's headquarters, with whole milk, chocolate milk and buttermilk having been the original offerings, and hormone-free beef, goat-milk soap and a variety of vegetables having come along more recently.

"We started coming down here about three years ago, in April," said Watson Dorn, an owner of the Edgefield-based dairy. "When we first started coming, we would back the truck in and just hope and pray somebody would show up to buy our products.

"After three years, we've developed a lot of good friendship down here, and sometimes when we pull in now, there's five or six cars sitting here waiting on us. They count on us to be here, and we count on them to come purchase our milk."

He described the product as low temperature-pasteurized and non-homogenized, available by the gallon, half-gallon and pint.

Rhonda Nowicki, one of the Dorns' customers at 1879 West Martintown Road, eventually became a Wednesday vendor, as well, adding free-range, hormone-free eggs to the weekly options. Her operation, Nowicki's Chickies, also offers various types of soap and lotion, all based in goat milk, with fragrances ranging from spearmint and roses to cloves and eucalyptus.

Next in line was Charles Eubank, whose operation is based in Johnston, offering grass-fed beef, also free of hormones.

"It's an assortment of whatever I have in that list of standard items that I have the processor process."

Hamburger and beef sausage are major attractions, while some customers prefer more unusual cuts, he confirmed, noting, "There's a fellow up in Columbia that comes all the way down here to buy oxtail, and it really makes good soup."

The newest vendor, Rebecca McDonald, who based in North Augusta offers jams, jellies, relish and hot sauces. During the warmer months, she shifts to tomatoes, okra, squash, cucumbers, mustard greens, pickled okra and cabbage ("all organic - no chemicals on it").

Dorn confirmed that the Wednesday gatherings can provide a welcome respite. "Sometimes, around the dairy, you have a lot of stress and a lot of problems with different things around the farm, and you come down here and the kids get so excited about getting a pint of chocolate milk. It's kind of the highlight of your week."