Old McDonald Had a Farm(ers' Market)

With summer in full swing, farmers' markets have been on my mind lately. Over this past weekend, I traveled one town over to visit their Saturday morning farmers' market. Picture a shady tree-lined street with novel two-story houses. Now picture a church at the corner of this street. Once a week, the parking lot and a portion of the green grassy area in front of the church gets transformed into a market where local farmers sell their produce, bakers offer their bread and nurseries arrive with trucks of sweet-smelling flowers.



Fresh zucchini and squash from Woodward's Orchard.


While I was at the market, I spoke with the founder, who explained to me that the market is just 3 years old. They have been gradually growing the number of regular vendors, so as not to oversaturate it and create too much competition within the market. The market was very diverse, with a variety of vendors. While I was there I spotted a pierogi stand, a table selling homemade Greek food, a tent with all kinds of different preserves and a woman selling salmon, which her fisherman brother catches in Alaska.

When I was living in New York, the Greenmarket in Union Square on a warm and sunny Saturday morning was the place to be. Over the past 30 years it has grown to one of the most expansive in the area. There's nothing like chomping on a freshly picked apple or having crisp cool lettuce for a salad, so I would walk down to the market when I could.

Farmers' markets have been gaining in popularity around the country over the last couple years and I love this trend. If you think about it, the farmers' market is really interesting, because the idea is not really new or novel- a hundred years ago, before we had Food Emporium, Giant Eagle, Harris Teeter and the like, open air markets were how many people in cities would shop for their food. On one hand, today's farmers' markets are a symbol of culinary sophistication- many of the best chefs and the most health conscious and adventurous of eaters swear by these markets. On the other hand, the farmers' market is a return to the most simple and 'salt of the earth' way of getting your food. It's quite the dichotomy.



Summer flowers for sale are in full bloom.

When I talked to the markets' founder, I asked him about the possibility of us having a table where we could sell our baked goods. Since they are still in the growth stages, he mentioned that new vendors interested in participating could be invited to come and sell their products a couple times each season. He noted that once we were ready to sell our products at the market that I should get in touch with him, which is great news. If it works out, this will be a nice way to get some additional exposure!