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8/9/2012 - West Side Leader
     

By Maria Lindsay

Locally grown produce is available at the Dayton Owl Barn Market.

Photo courtesy of Dayton Nursery and Garden Center

NORTON — As a child, Dayton Nursery and Garden Center owner Tom Dayton sold produce grown in the family garden alongside the road.

He returned to the idea about five years ago as he began to develop a vision of a market. After purchasing some frozen vegetables that came from China, Mexico and Guatemala, Dayton said he believes these food suppliers are not as concerned with food quality and safety as they are about price.

Dayton said locally grown produce is a healthier choice for the public and could help area farmers at the same time. After traveling through Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin to study barns in the hopes of creating one for his market, Dayton began construction on the Dayton Owl Barn Market in September 2009. It opened to the public in July 2010.

The building, established at 3459 S. Cleveland-Massillon Road on the premises of the garden center, is environmentally friendly and remains cool on hot summer days to keep produce fresh and customers cool, according to Dayton.

“This new market was designed to even out our business,” said Dayton. “We are now busy in the spring, summer and fall. We are concentrating on bringing in fresh, home-grown, healthy produce from the local area. We will be adding more local fare.”

Much of the produce comes from the Seiberling Farm located nearby, as well as Amish farms, according to Dayton.

Produce at the Dayton Owl Barn Market includes fruit such as ginger gold apples, blueberries, southern peaches, nectarines, plums and cantaloupe. Vegetables include green beans, carrots, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, head lettuce, onions, bell and banana peppers, red and white new potatoes, tomatoes, yellow squash and zucchini.

Dayton said he also has been working to establish a pick-your-own blueberry patch that will be ready for the public in two years.

The 21-year-old Dayton Nursery also sells perennials, flowering plants, bushes, trees, mulch, soils and fertilizers. A variety of garden mums will be available soon, he said.

Dayton said the business has a botanical display garden to help customers decide on products they want in their gardens.

“We grow more than 50 percent of our products,” he added.

On Sept. 22 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Dayton Nursery’s Fall Festival will take place. It will offer live music by polka musician Franky Spetich, hayrides and children’s activities, cooking demonstrations, free samples and food available for purchase. Admittance is free, but children’s activities will require a small fee. A train garden with a moving model train also will be on display.

The Dayton Owl Barn Market is open Mondays through Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. For details, call 330-825-3320 or visit www.daytonnursery.com.

Editor’s note: Advertiser features appearing in the West Side Leader are provided as a service to the advertiser and our readers. They do not serve as an endorsement of any company, person, product or service. All information contained in these features comes directly from interviews with company owners or their representatives and from additional materials provided by them.

     

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