Rene Sackett has a lot to chew on as market master of Ellisville's Community Farmers Market.

"A couple of bloggers about the market have called me indefatigable," she said.

"People wonder where I get the energy, but it's a passion. When you do something you love, you don't get tired of it. At the market, I work hard but I smell like fresh air all the time," she said.

The market is held from 4 to 7 p.m. every Thursday, starting June 2 in the parking lot at Bluebird Park, 225 Kiefer Creek Road. Depending on weather, crop availability and the energy of the market master, it remains open as late as Oct. 27.

She has a lot to do, squeezing the volunteer market work in with her day job as a massage therapist.

"Starting early in the year, I first solicit vendors," Sackett said.

"Wednesdays during market season, I start to email vendors a market roll call of what vendors will be there every week," she said.

Each Thursday, she starts by marking out stall locations with sidewalk chalk on the park's parking lot at noon. After the city's parks department sets up vendor tents, she arrives back at 2 p.m. for set up and stays through stall breakdown at about 8 p.m.

Sackett recently offered a taste of her job, her favorite foods, and more.

QUESTION: How did you get to be Ellisville's market master?

ANSWER: I started volunteering when Straub's Markets originally opened the local farmers market three years ago near the store they then operated at Fountain Plaza, at Clarkson and Clayton roads. I set up a children's market section there. When Straub's closed their store, the farmers market closed. But I took it over last year, with George (her husband), by revamping it and relocating it to Bluebird Park. The city and I worked out details, and they basically handed the market over to me and George. Last year, it was like starting from scratch, but, this year, the market really started taking off.

Q: Why were you attracted to Ellisville's Community Farmers Market?

A: I have a passion for local food, for local farmers, for local small business, a real heart and real affinity for supporting these folks. The small family farmer has been lost in the last 40 or 50 years. The other thing is that people have lost touch with the seasons of food in their local area. People don't know, for instance, that a tomato grows in Missouri in July. We're so blessed to get so much food, like oranges, from all over the world, but we lose touch with what's grown here. My passion is to educate the community about local seasonal food and about the small family farmer, so people can meet the farmer who grows their food. We call them food producers because in addition to the fruit and vegetable growers, we also have people who produce bees and honey, people who bring wool, people who have chickens and bring eggs, pork, beef, lamb and so on.

Q: Do you have a vegetable garden in your backyard?

A: No! I can't grow anything. I have all shade and deer. My house is surrounded by gorgeous trees, though I tried to grow things in containers on the patio.

Q: What's your favorite fruit or vegetable and why?

A: The peach. There's something about the taste and juice and fragrance that I love.

Q: Are there any fruits or vegetables you don't eat? If so, why?

A: I like them all. Our freezer is filled with meat from local farms. Last year, our Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter dinners at home were all local farmers' food.

Q: How do you pick the best tomato?

A: I do it by the smell and the feel. Does it smell like a tomato? I don't think the ones in grocery stores normally do. A sunshine-ripened tomato is heavy, you can feel the juice in it.

Q: Since you're around food all the time, are you tempted to snack?

A: I will go up to vendors and taste. A lot of times they offer, "try this green bean or pea and take a bite and tell me what you think."

Q: Any changes or updates this year at the market?

A: This year, we have more vendors in general. Word of mouth is good for us. We want the community to know we're in the park. We're trying to create a destination so people can walk the market, visit with vendors, eat barbecue at bistro tables and hear live music during the market. We try to stay very diversified. What makes our market different, we're called a producer-only market because we ask our vendors to only have items that are home grown, handmade and homemade. We like producers to bring in what they grow, produce or make themselves.

Q: What's the best part of being market master for Ellisville?

A: It's connecting the community with the people that produce goods. I have a real passion when I see people who grow food and those who try locally grown food. The other thing that makes me happy is the kid's market area, and they're so cute, a stitch. This year, we're making a "Grow your Quilty" with kids making quilt squares every week. At the end of the season, we'll have a couple quilts to raffle off that the kids have made. It's darling. It brings me a lot of joy to see kids involved. Sometimes, they're the ones who bring their parents. But my favorite part of the market is about 5 p.m. when I see the crowd, feel the energy, hear the music. It's just a really neat feeling.

Rene Sackett

• 48

• Ellisville resident

• Grew up as Rene Renfro in what's now Wildwood (her neighborhood used to be called Hollow).

• Graduated in 1981 from Lafayette High School.

• As volunteer Market Master, oversees about 20 to 25 vegetable, fruit and local artisan vendors at the market each week.

• Day job is as a massage therapist with her own firm, Healing Hands Wellness Therapy in Ballwin.

• Her family includes her husband of eight years, George, and grown children Gabriel, Hannah, Ryan, and Tod.