Jolbert prepping for new summer season at Lewiston Artisan Farmers Market, new baking outlet in Youngstown

Second Helping with Joshua Maloni

GM/Managing Editor

Upon Rachel Jolbert taking the reins in 2023, the Lewiston Artisan Farmers Market has grown in physical size, number of vendors and months of operation. Its success and importance to the River Region has been mentioned by residents in person, online and at municipal meetings.

Still, that hasn’t stopped Jolbert from making tweaks as she works to ensure the weekly Saturday gathering remains special. Whether it was the addition of prepared foods, the availability of more breakfast and lunch items, or just accepting EBT/SNAP benefits, Jolbert has made enhancements to the market each season.

For the 2026 summer run, which begins May 30 along the Cayuga Street side of Academy Park, Jolbert has curated the offerings to focus more on food and farmers.

“We've got a few new food products, which are always my favorite,” she said. “We have new bakers and bread bakers, which are also serving prepared food, so that's fun.”

Jolbert said food is a key element to any good farmers market, “whether that's food you're buying to take home and cook or food you're eating at the market. That's always my favorite part, and what we're kind of trying to curate more of this year.”

“We'll have eight bakers this season, which is the most we've ever had,” Jolbert added. “At the same time as we're getting more requests, we're really just trying to figure out what niches we can fill. So, saying someone is a bread baker is different than somebody who does mostly pastries versus pies. We're trying to make sure we fill in the gaps and not just having five options of the same product.”

Jolbert explained, “The Lewiston Farmers Market offers everything from conventionally grown produce to certified naturally gown. … Certified naturally grown is like the next best thing to organic.

“We have farmers who specialize in smaller heirloom crops; we have farmers that will have all of the things that are in season – your regular tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini. We have farmers who specialize in lettuces and microgreens. We have our farmers that do meat – so, poultry, beef and pork.

“I feel like a lot of people, when they think of just the word ‘farm,’ they automatically go to fruits and vegetables; but we can't forget about the meat farmers, and we can't forget about the beekeepers. Those are also a type of farming. We have two beekeepers this year – same ones we had last year. They're tending to the land as much as our farmers are; their bees are pollinating a lot of the crops. We live in a really rich area with all kinds of agriculture, and so the bees thrive in this area, which is really nice, since bee populations all over have kind of been in a decline the last couple of years.

"I think it's just pointing out that farms don't just mean fruits and vegetables – that they're the other types of farms as well.”

The Lewiston Artisan Farmers Market has about 80 vendors lined up right now, with roughly a third who are full-time participants.

Hours are 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. each Saturday, save Peach Festival weekends (staging and event) in September.

Schul Farmstead farmer-owner Aurora Schul Schunk said, "This will be my fifth summer at the market. I continue to return because I love the sense of community at the market, getting to know all the wonderful folks who regularly buy from local farms and small businesses, and I love feeding the community."

Jenn Nguyen, owner of The SourCrumb Bakery, said, "I love how diverse and friendly the Lewiston Farmers Market is! From the different vendors to the customers, everyone just comes together to enjoy each other’s company. I can't wait to see how amazing 2026 will be!"

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/lewistonartisanmarket.

Rachel Jolbert recently announced her bakery business is expanding to 120 Lockport St., Youngstown. Three Little Hens Baking Co. is named after her three daughters – two of whom are shown helping Mom prep the new place. (Photos courtesy of Jolbert)

••••••••

Three Little Hens moving to Youngstown

Jolbert’s own Three Little Hens Baking Co. has been a staple at the Lewiston Artisan Farmers Market, offering homemade and delicious cookies, scones and specialty pastries.

She recently announced the operation will move into a brick-and-mortar at 120 Lockport St., Youngstown, and will open this summer.

“I have professionally worked in pastry for 18 years,” Jolbert said. “The only job I've essentially ever had was in restaurants or in bakeries.”

Ironically, “Something I have said every single year has been I will never open a brick-and-mortar bakery.”

Jolbert changed her mind when she recalled how much she missed sharing her craft.

“I have taught for the last 14 years, in some capacity,” she said. “I used to teach at the Niagara Falls Culinary Institute. I was an adjunct professor there for seven years, teaching in the pastry department. I left that in 2021 after having my third child.

“I missed teaching, so I started hosting cookie-decorating classes at Wandering Gypsy Brewing Co., and then also they reached out to me from Lew-Port community ed. and Wheatfield community ed. I started teaching classes, and then really kind of wanted to expand on that. So, having a place of my own to teach was really important to me.”

Moreover, “This is my sixth year in business, and after I put an addition on my house and realized I also quickly outgrew that – I have four ovens in my residential kitchen – I was actually looking at building something (else) on my property” before learning the Youngstown space was available.

Jolbert worked with Deal Realty in acquiring the 1,500-square-foot property, which formerly served as a dog-grooming business.

“I've been baking out of my home with a cottage license for the last six years, and this will allow me to expand into different types of products, because there are different things that I can bake with a health department-certified kitchen,” Jolbert said. “And then, I will just be expanding on the wholesale accounts that I already have. I'm going to be baking pastries for the new Tom Tower Farm Market right down the street.”

Three Little Hens Baking Co. is not expected to be a full-time public eatery.

“It has a very small, 100-square-foot, what I'm calling a ‘micro café.’ It will seat about 10 people, and it will be open for reservations,” Jolbert said. “My thought is book clubs, or even like team-building, if they want to come and have a lunch, and then do a cooking class at the same time. There's a space for everyone to sit. And then, I may open for things like if there's big events at (Fort Niagara), like a soccer tournament.”

For more information, email rjolbert26@gmail.com.