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GLOVERSVILLE - The Winter Market at the Glove Performing Arts Center on Main Street Saturday gave area farms a chance to showcase their goods downtown.

The market lasted from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and featured 17 vendors, said Missy Potter, program assistant for the Montgomery County Agricultural Economic Development Project.

This was the first year the Glove was rented for the event.

"We wanted to hit a new target audience," Potter said. "In Fultonville, we weren't getting the walking traffic."

The market has traditionally been held at the Econo Lodge in Fultonville. On Saturday, vendors will set up their tables at that location for an encore.

Cornell Cooperative Extension and the Mohawk Harvest Cooperative Market sponsored the event. Vendors paid $20 for a table.

"We want people to be exposed to local products," Potter said. "Vendors can show them what's right here."

Mary Ann Delany of Florida is an illustrator and does therapeutic work with special-needs children. She recently launched her business, Country Cousins. While Delany has showcased her work at craft fairs, this was her first Winter Market.

"Business has been very good," said Delany, who illustrates animal designs for adult- and children-sized t-shirts, tote bags, and note cards.

"I wanted to put my art on a different canvas," said Delany. "One that people can carry."

Delany also sold handmade jewelry.

Other vendors, like Conbeer's Farm, have made it a tradition to sell their goods at the market.

Kathryn Conbeer sells everything from Christmas wreaths to a variety of canned pickles to homemade cookie platters.

"This gives us exposure," Conbeer said. "People get to know us and they come back or maybe they come visit the farm."

Judith Pettit, a city resident, came to shop at the market for the first time this year. She bought dried fruits and nuts in a basket, mason bread and a platter of holiday cookies from Conbeer's Farm.

"I wanted to come here because I love these [events]," said Pettit. "I also wanted to see the Glove. I haven't been in here since it opened."

Her friend, Karen Hurd, also a city resident, told Pettit about the market. Hurd was carrying a 5-pound jar of honey, cheese spread and elderberry jelly she had just bought.

"There are very talented people here," Hurd said. "Everything is fresh and I like to support our area."

Kathryn Conbeer said business has been very good at her farm this year, despite the economy.

City resident Richard A. Carlson and his wife, Bette, came to the market specifically to buy goods made from Alpaca fiber.

"You can't beat these alpaca gloves," Richard said. "They are the warmest."

The Carlsons bought three pairs of gloves and two pairs of socks from Merry Hill Farm. In addition to ready made goods, the alpaca farm also sold bags of fiber for spinning and kits to help people make their own alpaca scarf.

Ed Radle of Florida, a volunteer for Cornell Cooperative Extension, demonstrated how to make sauerkraut.

Radle showed that all it takes are 5 pounds of shredded cabbage, four tablespoons of Kosher salt and about six weeks to have homemade sauerkraut.

"If you asked a lot of kids today where milk comes from, they would say 'the store,'" Radle said. "There is a disconnect between the food and where it comes from."

That's why Radle said it was important to show people how to make their own sauerkraut and get them "back to earth."