Residents kick off new Bigfork Village Market on Wednesday nights

Those looking for fresh produce, gourmet hot dogs, handmade jewelry and other local creations as well as a night on the town will need to look no further than downtown Bigfork on Wednesday nights starting June 9.

A group of local business people have banded together to start the Bigfork Village Market at Brookies Cookies.

"Bigfork has a great downtown," market manager Daphne Dennison said. "Locals need something to do during the (week in the) summer. It's a place to get together, shop and eat."

Bigfork already has a farmer's market in the Bigfork High School parking lot on Wednesday evenings and Saturday mornings. Dennison said the Village Market group wanted to set up downtown and the Bigfork market didn't have an interest in moving.

Dennison is working to provide as much variety as possible in the limited space. She aims to have every booth feature something different.

"That's the point behind the market — exposure for people to make their talents known about what they have and what they do," Dennison said.

Dennison herself makes candles under the name Montana Flame, and she's one of about 10 vendors who will sell their wares at the market.

Local chef Marc Guizol is another one of those hidden talents. Guizol owns and cooks at La Provence on Electric Avenue in Bigfork. However, when he's not in the kitchen, Guizol is still consumed with food — at his home farm.

Guizol Farms is located near the Creston National Fish Hatchery. Since Guizol and wife Caroline bought the property, which includes 21 acres and 100-year-old structures, they've slowly been expanding their growing operation. This year that meant a greenhouse.

Now with the greenhouse built this March, Guizol is able to spend even more time with the plants and start his season much earlier.

"It's been great, during the winter time and March to be here," Guizol said. "I'm able to at any point be outside planting."

But the farm, Guizol acknowledges, is still a work in progress.

"We learn how to do it better and expand every year," Guizol said.

Their garden has also literally blossomed over the past few years. They used to have a few small rows, which have now expanded to about 24 rows of more than 75 feet of vegetables and herbs.

One of the main purposes of the Guizol farm operation is to produce local products for the restaurant.

Guizol focuses on growing produce and herbs that are difficult to buy or to buy in the bulk or quality he needs for La Provence in the Flathead Valley. Such items include a land sea weed he originally had to purchase in Seattle. It is often used with fish in European cooking. He also produces edible flowers and purple artichokes among dozens of other plants growing in his gardens and greenhouse.

This way his customers at the restaurant don't just get to taste his cooking — they can also know they are tasting locally grown foods.

"I try to bring everything I can to the restaurant," Guizol said.

The farm is also complete with chickens, turkeys and a half a dozen cattle, including the most recent edition which Guizol proudly shows off — a new calf.

While it services the restaurant, the farm is also a family project Guizol and his wife use to teach their children work skills. Their children Jack, Theo, Nicky and Elena take it on, selling the produce on the weekends and earning a cut of the profits by the end of the summer to buy something they want.

"It helps them to understand what it takes to earn money," Guizol said.

The new Village Market will provide another way for the children to get a taste of business and to get more of their produce into local residents' hands.

The Guizol family will be in good company, since the market aims to be a community-oriented and family-friendly event.

The market will run from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. with live music starting at 7 p.m. or earlier.

Those interested in being part of the market can contact Dennison and be put on a waiting list.

For more information about the market visit bigforkvillagemarket.blogspot.com or e-mail bigforkvillagemarket@gmail.com.