DECATUR - City Centre Farmer's Market is off to a slow start since opening last month.

June's showers and floods proved too harsh for many growers who usually sell their produce in downtown Central Park.

Pete Vercellino, owner of Buds-N-Blooms in Decatur, was one of the three vendors Saturday as a steady stream of people came through. He said many of the vendors who suffered through the bad weather are getting a late start with their crops.

However, he managed to cash in on crops from his greenhouse and garden - from various plants, green beans, squash to blackberries and cherries.

"In most cases, we have items just as reasonable as or more reasonable than what you can buy in a grocery store. Where else can you buy a pint of cherries for a $1.50?" he said.

But, Vercellino added, "It's costing us more as the price of everything is going up, from the fertilizer and the drip irrigation system where the cost of water is projected to go up."

It was like tasting sour grapes for Kathy Merriman, who had only one table set up under a tent.

She helps her father, Tom Hensley, owner of Henhouse Farms in Bement, who every year usually has three to four tables filled with fresh farm vegetables and fruits.

"I think the weather last year allowed us to have more produce, but it will pick up," Hensley said optimistically.

"Supplies have gone up from fertilizer, seeds to the cost of gas coming down here to Decatur and all that trickles down," Merriman said. "But our customers still want fresh produce because they know where it comes from."

Paula Partain, who owns the greenhouse Rush Mill, was selling lots of herbs such as rosemary, cilantro and basil.

"It was a difficult growing season with all the rain, cold and no sun," she said.

Bryan and Jennie Reynolds, who own Cisco Farms, didn't have any produce ready yet to sell, but they came by Saturday to talk to the other vendors.

"If everything goes well, we are looking at having sweet corn by July 19 and be here to set up," Bryan Reynolds said.

The Reynolds said they lost most of their onion crop, and the saturated soil from the rain delayed some other crops.

"It's hard when you have standing water out in the fields and can't get in there to pick anything," Jennie Reynolds said.

The couple said the cost of fuel has changed the entire economy, and although they'll try to be fair on their prices, will have to up on the cost of some of the produce.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is reporting food prices will continue to increase 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent in 2008.

Sixteen basic grocery items, including flour, cheese, eggs, bread, potatoes and meat items, in the first quarter of 2008 that cost $45.03 are up by 8 percent from 2007, according to the latest American Farm Bureau Federation Marketbasket Survey.

"Some things are cheaper here and some are not compared to going to a grocery store," said Timothy Farrell who was out early Saturday, buying tomatoes at the farmer's market. "Every thing here at the market also is much fresher."

Angela Edwards and her three young daughters had their bags of onions, green beans, new potatoes, cherries and a fresh jar of honey.

"The food is a lot healthier, and I know where it came from," Edwards said.

Sheila Smith can be reached at sheilas@herald-review.com or 421-7963.