Market inspires new Saturday hours

Published 9:00 pm Thursday, October 11, 2007

By By MARCIA STEFFENS and ERIKA PICKLES / Edwardsburg Argus
NILES – The Niles French Market ended its season Saturday, but some of the vendors were so pleased that they are planning on continuing a "market day" at their own businesses.
One vendor which couldn't be more impressed with the Niles market and the community itself was Lou Ann Robinson of Jake's Country Meats.
"Niles has embraced me well and because of our wonderful turnout at the market, my husband (Nate) and I are going to start opening on Saturday's from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.," at their farm, Robinson explained.
Robinson and her husband have an all natural, antibiotic free hog farm in Cassopolis which they have operated for 34 years together.
Their son, Jacob, and his wife, Andrea, have also become involved. Robinson explained that her husband's family has been in the hog farm industry for more than 100 years.
Daughter Jamie (Samuel) Adams also helps out. Another daughter, Renee, is studying at Western Michigan University and works at Mater Funeral Home part time and Lindsay is a student at Southwestern Michigan College and works at the Elks Golf Course in Dowagiac.
As of right now, the two distribute pork to bigger cities like Chicago, Detroit and Ann Arbor. They also serve local residents, who often call to place orders.
"We don't have set hours because we get enough business to keep us busy. But we are going to try to set up Saturday hours and see how it works out. Our decision was based on the direct result of the Niles market and we want to keep our customer base," Robinson said.
Robinson explained that all of their sausages are MSG free and the bacon is naturally smoked with no added nitrates.
Robinson said they do a number of special orders and even sell whole hams at Christmas time.
"Some of them are over 28 pounds, which is a lot of meat, but when you're feeding around 30 people, it goes fast," she said.
All of the meat is USDA inspected, vacuum packed and freshly frozen. She has a hard time keeping up with orders for their pork chops, sausage, bacon and brats.
She also makes gift boxes that are for sale any day of the week.
The Robinsons also have Blue RIdge Campground, with horse riding trails, for a nominal fee, for those who wish to save the price of gasoline, but still get away for a few days.
"We're right outside of Cassopolis and very easy to find," she said. Jake's Country Meats is located on Decatur Road. Jake's is the first farm on the right side, just beyond the blinking light at the intersection of Decatur Road and Dutch settlement.
"We have had such a good response here. I hope people will come visit us," she added.