Farmers' Markets in Full Bloom
By Nadja Maril
[By June, market tables are bountiful with colorful red cherries.]
This past May, farmers’ markets throughout Anne Arundel County opened for business. Locations in Annapolis, Severna Park, Glen Burnie, Parole, Deale, Edgewater, and Odenton all offer fresh vegetables, plants, baked goods, and craft items to customers eager to purchase locally grown fresh foods and support local agriculture. Old friends greet each other, cloth shopping bags and baskets in hand, anxious to be among the first to select ingredients for home-cooked meals that are fresh and have been purchased directly from the grower.
W.B. Henderson, who has lived in Annapolis since 1983, likes to visit and shop at the Farmers’ Market almost any time. “There is a wide variety of produce and the farmers are helpful and friendly,” he commented last June at the Riva Road market on Customer Appreciation Day. Henderson makes a point of buying his tomatoes from the Wirth family, who has a farm in Pasadena. “We started out as a poultry farm with all kinds of animals,” says Gordon Wirth. “Now we have 10 acres of vegetables and 300 fruit trees. We sell tomatoes by the ton,” he says. Once the tomato season is under way, Wirth spends eight hours a day just packing and inspecting tomatoes.
[For Gordon Wirth, farming is a family business. He's been farming since childhood.]
Barbara Davis from Good Luck Farm in Davidsonville goes to the Riva Road market on Saturdays and, when they are added in June, Tuesdays as well. She sets up at the Piney Orchard market on Wednesdays. She has been selling her produce at farmers’ markets for at least 20 years, and she remembers when the market was set up in the Board of Education parking lot.
During the first few weeks of the market be prepared for a large selection of potted and hanging plants, along with herbs, honey, jams, and home-baked breads and cakes. The vegetables are just beginning to ripen unless they have been grown early in a hothouse. Greens, scallions, radishes, chard, beets, asparagus, strawberries, peas, broccoli, cabbage, and lettuce are the vegetables and fruits you are likely to find in the spring. Eggs, cheeses, and locally raised beef and lamb are some of the staple items that you can buy.
A number of vendors specialize in items that are organically grown and offer varieties of produce that may be harder to find at general grocery stores. Supplies are limited, so the earlier you arrive at the market the more likely you’ll find what you are looking for.
[W.B. Henderson makes a purchase from Pasadena farmer Gary Wirth.]
Some of the farmers have other professions as well. Kathy Ostrowski-Morris, from Deep Cove Farm in Churchton, is a full-time social studies and English teacher in the Baltimore City School system. She often picks her produce the night before going to market so she can get her goods organized and be set up to greet customers at 7 a.m.
Music, crafts, and baked goods make the Farmers’ Market a favorite excursion for children. As spring moves into summer the crowds grow denser as increasing numbers of people turn out to take advantage of the larger selection of items. By visiting earlier in the season, you can develop a relationship with your favorite vendors and learn what to expect them to have for sale the next week.
Where to Go to Market
Anne Arundel County
At Riva Road & Harry S. Truman Parkway
Saturdays through December 19: 7 a.m.–noon
Tuesdays through October 27: 7 a.m.–noon
Contact: Brenda Conti, 410-349-0317
Deale
At Cedar Grove United Methodist Church Parking Lot
Thursdays through October 29: 3–6 p.m.
Contact: Gail Wilkerson, 410-867-4993
Freshfarm Market Annapolis
At Donner parking lot off Compromise Street
Sundays through August 22: 8 a.m.–noon
Contact: www.freshfarmmarket.org
The Centre at Glen Burnie
At Glen Burnie mall parking lot in front of Best Buy
Wednesdays through August 26: 9 a.m.–noon
Contact: Lisa Barge, 410-222-7410
Natural Market
At 1811 McGuckian Road, Annapolis (the Miko Wheeler Warehouse)
Tuesdays: 3:30–6:30 p.m.
Contact: www.WardOneNews.org
[Max and MIa Applegate, nine-year-old twins from Annapolis, enjoy snow cones. As for vegetables, Max likes the carrots and Mia likes the corn.]
Piney Orchard
At Stream Valley Drive off Route 170, Piney Orchard Community & Visitors Center Parking Lot
Wednesdays through November 25: 2–6:30 p.m.
Contact: Bill Morris, 410-867-9162
Severna Park
At Ritchie Highway (Route 2) & Jones Station Road
Saturdays through October 24: 8 a.m.–noon
Contact: Anita Robertson, 410-827-9192
Westfield Annapolis
At Westfield Annapolis Mall parking lot next to Sears Automotive
Sundays through October 25: 11 a.m.–3 p.m.
Contact: Brenda Conti, 410-349-0317
Additional resources:
Maryland Cooperative Extension Anne Arundel County
http://extension.umd.edu/local/AnneArundel
Maryland Online Farmers Market
www.foodtrader.org
Tags:
Farmer's Market
More Articles