GAYLORD, MI -- Pretty soon, the fresh fruits and vegetable stands across Northern Michigan will shut down for the season, or will they?

The efforts of one local community will extend the fresh food season and pump money into the economy.

"Every week, every week, I enjoy the food, the crops they raise here, they're delicious," admits Cass Kopczyk, who shops at the Gaylord Farmer’s Market.

The farmer's market is no secret.  In fact, fresh and locally grown seems to be the way a lot of people prefer to go.

"Prices are better, you get what you pay for," said shopper Sharon Kinaia.

Ivan Witt uses his three greenhouses and a two-acre plot to grow his food and sells it at the Gaylord Farmer's Market twice a week, on Wednesday’s and Saturday’s.

"It’s a full summer's worth of work, it's about seven months of our main family's income, so we depend on it, and we depend on the people that support us here," said Witt.

He profits about $1,500 a week from the market, and about $25,000 a year.  Marketmaster Sue Nowak and her husband Larry make more than $10,000 annually.  Money spent, and money kept, locally.

“There's a whole push in the community to buy local, eat local, eat fresh," said Sue Nowak.

One thing a lot of people say they really like about the farmer's market is having the chance to try new products, like the sweet tango apple, and this year, they'll get an extended chance, because of work that the city of Gaylord is doing.

"We’ve been full of snow here, and we won't have those issues anymore, we'll have a great environment to continue this outdoor, open-air market," said Gaylord City Manager Joe Duff.

All because of these newly-installed heat coils in the pavilion.  Gaylord got a $170,000 farm to food grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation and the city chipped in $30,000 to install canvas covers and heat in the pavilion.

“The sides, the warmth will allow us to begin earlier in the year, be more comfortable throughout the year, and extend later into the fall," said Nowak.

The work is almost completed to make the market fully enclosed.  Last year, like every other year, the market closed in October.  Now, it could be November and maybe even December.  It’s a move that farmers say will pad their pocketbooks.

“It's keeping money in the neighborhood and it'll pay dividends back to the city for their efforts," said Witt.

Farmers say the use of greenhouses to grow food is increasing in popularity and that's fresh food that people desire and they know they can sell.