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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; It&#8217;s a labor of love at MD Muellers farm. A love for the earth, home grown produce and each other.</p><p>Owners Matthew and Danielle Mueller knew each other growing up. Danielle was the girl next door. Matthew grew up, bought the old dairy farm Danielle&#8217;s family once owned and began a small vegetable farming operation. Help was needed and Danielle answered the call.</p><p>&#8220;I started picking blueberries on his farm and then we started dating,&#8221; Danielle said. &#8220;Several years later he proposed to me in that same blueberry patch.&#8221;</p><p>The wedded couple now farms about five acres in Damascus and travels every week to bring their produce to the Wilkes-Barre Farmers Market. It&#8217;s been a long wait.</p><p>Danielle said MD Mueller&#8217;s farm has been on a waiting list for the local market for about four years.</p><p>&#8220;This is our first year. We&#8217;ve always been in love with this market especially the history of public square,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It was designed for farmers and vendors.&#8221;</p><p>In just the few months they&#8217;ve been downtown, Matthew has garnered nicknames from his customers.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m the lettuce guy with the long beard,&#8221; he said.</p><p>It&#8217;s fitting.</p><p>The farm yields more than five kinds of lettuce from butter crunch to special varieties of iceberg.</p><p>&#8220;We also grow some mean taters,&#8221; Danielle said.</p><p>The couple have farming in their roots. Danielle said that each of them would have been fifth generation dairy farmers had they stayed in the line of work of their families. Instead, the tried their hands at growing instead of milking and the results have been fruitful both physically and emotionally.</p><p>&#8220;I love that at the end of the day, even though I&#8217;ve worked 16 hours, I can go home and feel totally awesome about what I did,&#8221; Danielle said. &#8220;Being at the market is almost like cooking for people. I remember my mom always cooked for us and she would wait until we tried something to make sure it was good before she would sit down and eat. That&#8217;s what I feel like here.&#8221;</p><p>It&#8217;s not always a wonderful time, the couple said.</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s definitely satisfaction in it,&#8221; Matthew said. &#8220;There are days it&#8217;s a love hate relationship though.&#8221;</p><p>In addition to potatoes and lettuce, basil is another popular item available at their stand, located across the street from Zime.</p><p>There are also a variety of tomatoes.</p><p>&#8220;Our biggest thing is our tomatoes,&#8221; Danielle said. &#8220;They are super sweet and people tell us they love them all the time.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Potatoes and other vegetables on sale at the MD Muellers Farm stand at the Wilkes-Barre Farmers Market. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_potatoes.jpg</photo0><caption0>Potatoes and other vegetables on sale at the MD Muellers Farm stand at the Wilkes-Barre Farmers Market. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_VendorProfiles_3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Danielle and Matthew Mueller at their produce stand at the Farmers' Market in Wilkes-Barre.   Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/web1_VendorProfiles_3.jpg</photo1><caption1>Danielle and Matthew Mueller at their produce stand at the Farmers' Market in Wilkes-Barre.   Bill Tarutis | For Times Leader</caption1><photoCredit1></photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Couple finally off 4 year waiting list for local farmers market</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Sarah Haase</p><p><a href="mailto:shaase@www.timesleader.com">shaase@www.timesleader.com</a></p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>Editor&#8217;s Note:</strong> There&#8217;s nothing like perusing a local farmers market and indulging in fresh, homegrown, homemade products. The Wilkes-Barre Farmers Market, in its 42nd year, offers wares, produce and baked goods from a variety of vendors. Check the Times Leader every week for the opportunity to get to know the vendors selling you honey, lettuce, apples, jams and more.</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Sarah Haase at 570-991-6111. Follow her on Twitter at @tlarts.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

At the farmers market: MD Muellers Farm