A new farmers market focused on locally grown produce and locally made food will begin Sunday behind the Greater Picayune Area Chamber of Commerce building at the corner of Highway 11 and Goodyear Boulevard.

Mike Juneau and his wife Christina Juneau are Picayune farmers organizing the new market. The couple began operating a farm four years ago and raise free-range animals including cows, pigs and chickens, Mike Juneau said.

The goal of conducting the farmers market is to make fresh, locally grown produce accessible and give small producers a place to sell their products on a small scale, Juneau said.

Vendors will include soap makers, bakers and people who can, or make jams, jellies and pickles, Juneau said. The market will also include prepared food, he said.

Vendors at the market will have to grow, raise or produce their product themselves, Juneau said, and can even include someone who wants to sell vegetables from their garden.

“I always tell people, especially people with gardens, that the only difference between a gardener and a farmer is that a farmer makes money off of what he grows,” Juneau said.

There is already one farmers market in Picayune that operates on Saturdays where the Juneaus sell their products, but it is only open seasonally, he said. When the market’s season ended last year, that left the pair searching for a new place to sell their wares, encouraging them to create a market that will be open year round, Juneau said. 

Anyone who wants to become a vendor can contact Juneau through the market’s Facebook page, Farmers Market of Picayune, he said.

The farmers market will operate from 1 p.m. to 4, Juneau said.