When you enter the Covington Farmers Market, you’re greeted with a warm hello and a spritz of hand sanitizer. People browse the stalls with masks and gloves – always making sure to follow the arrows on the ground. At 11 a.m., market volunteers shout over a megaphone for vendors to pause what they’re doing and sanitize their tables. These are just some of the new changes Covington Farmers Market has adopted to keep up with the new normal of COVID-19.

Every Saturday morning from 9 a.m to 1 p.m., the Covington Farmers Market brings in vendors from all over the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area to sell locally grown and made products, offering a safe haven of community in the uncertain times of COVID. As you walk around from stall to stall, you see people of all backgrounds; there’s a certain comfort in seeing who is responsible for the products you’re purchasing. You get to see whose pockets your money is going into. The market has adapted itself into a year-round event this year as well, currently operating at Butlers Pantry Patio in Covington. I talked with Miya Sohoza of Mud Lane Blooms, just one of the vendors at the market, to learn more about what this community means to her.

Interview by Emma Segrest. Photography by Heather Colley.

How long have you been with the Covington Farmers Market?

This is my second year! I was there for the full year last year, as well as this year.

What’s your favorite part about market days?

The pastries from North South Baking [laughs], I say that all the time, that’s my favorite part of the market. Other than that, it’s the community. Right now, with COVID, I don’t go out unless it’s for the market or the grocery store. So I get to see my niece, who I don’t get to see often right now; she’ll come to market and sometimes help me out. Then there are the other farmers – they’ve become friends over the last few years. We're all very supportive of each other, especially right now, when we don't get to see anyone else. It’s the one day I get to go in and see other humans, and the people who run the market are great organizers. They take such good care of everybody.

How has COVID-19 impacted your business this year?

Surprisingly, it’s gone up quite a bit. I’ve actually had a considerable increase in business and I think that’s because the community is really focused on buying local right now. People want to know where everything is coming from. I've had many customers tell me that it's refreshing to get everything at the market instead of, say, going to a separate building or, you know, a separate store.

It's important to have a sense of connectedness, knowing that you were part of the food's journey.

I focus not just on our farm but also on the business and florist side as well. It’s something I can offer at the market that customers can’t get somewhere else. I hate to say that it’s been a good thing for us in a way, but it has been, and I know a few other farmers have said the same. They’ve seen their business grow because people want to know where their food and products are coming from.

As a female entrepreneur, have you felt any additional pressure at the market because of COVID-19?

I really feel like the women entrepreneurs at the market, as a whole, we’ve been the ones who have been trying to help the market itself. Making sure to uphold all the rules, and we speak up a lot more when people aren’t wearing a mask. The market only has one entry, one exit point, and people are always breaking through the barriers, and I see more women speaking up, myself as well. I’m always calling people out and making sure they know to wash their hands, have a mask, things like that; but I feel like it is always the women

What resources has Covington Farmers Market offered you during COVID to ensure your success?

I've worked with several other markets the past couple of years, and Covington has been the most effective in terms of safety for the customers and vendors. They’re always so open and helpful with anything we could need for our safety.

They're always putting things on Instagram and Facebook about the different farmers; they advertise for everybody. They make sure we’re all a part of the community, and it's not just about the market. That's helped my business, I know, in a lot of ways.

Why is the farmer’s market so important to you?

It's a community! I lived in Covington for most of my adult life, and it's a huge part of the community. I just moved to Ohio to buy a farm, but I lived on the block where the market is located for 11 years. The community is really important, not just for the farmers, but also for the customers who return week after week. It’s such a diverse community. There’s such a wonderful, diverse population in Covington, and it's grown so much over the last decade. It’s very inclusive. If I could farm in Covington, I would.

Why do you believe it is important to shop local?

I think it’s really important to stay connected to your food source. We do raise our chickens for eggs and meat, we sell our eggs at the market, but that idea of knowing where your food comes from is important to me, and we try to share that at the market. Things I sell or others sell at the market, only one or two people have touched your food. You know what went into it, where it came from. Something that you bought from Kroger, or wherever, you don’t necessarily know where that was grown or how many people have touched it, what the conditions are, but that accountability is here at the market.

You see, your farmer, the person handling your food, is the one who grew it. There's a connection in that for me; even when I lived in Covington, I had a small garden. It's important to have a sense of connectedness, knowing that you were part of the food's journey.

Who is a woman that inspires you?

It's so hard because there's so many! I guess, honestly, I would say the memory of my mother. She died when I was 12, and farming was in her family. And I feel a lot of connection to her since moving to the farm. I remember her as such a bright light of a person. She was so happy and joyful, and that's something I try to aspire to be for other people, through farming or just in general – and I hope I do that.

Community Mix is our monthly hodge-podge of content from the voices of a hodge-podge of beautiful Cincinnatians.

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Miya Sohoza on Finding Community at Covington Farmers Market