Farm to Table at Local Farmers Market

by Chris O’Connor

My journey on the road to the farmer’s market with my wares in tow began not as a mad dash, but more like a casual meander.

The first issue to confront was the most mundane: I had nothing to sell but for seedlings I’d started for my own garden.

Procrastination—the enemy of the most well-intentioned gardener—is even worse if one is too much an inveterate dreamer. Being identified as a dreamer isn’t a compliment, but rather implies one isn’t a “doer.” It was sort of disheartening to be called a dreamer when I was a child, until Mom helped me re-frame the word and told me to consider myself an idea person.

The dreamer in me has long been intrigued with the notion of selling something—anything—at a farmer’s market, a place with no walls and the only ceiling, the ever-changing sky above. Short of becoming growers themselves, where else can professional chefs or imaginative home cooks obtain the tastiest vegetables and herbs for their dishes or the freshest flowers for their tables?

Recently, I heard that there were still vendor spaces available at a local market. Better yet, there was no charge for a space. It was a no-brainer for me to follow one of my dreams—except for the pesky problem that I had no marketable product.

My internal GPS startled me when it piped up, “Recalibrating!” and I was off to the races. The first order of business was to contact someone to secure a space before the market’s opening. I started with the Emmitsburg Town Office.

With a space available for me, I hastily transplanted some of my flower seedlings from market packs into individual pots and gave each a splash of water-soluble fertilizer. With some searching, I found some bubble wrap to stuff in between what would be jars of water to hold fresh cut herbs. But the quest for the small cooler that I usually use to keep my drinking water below 80 degrees proved to be a futile exercise.

Market day dawned as so many recently, with a hint of a promise to stay nice, but the angry remnants of Tropical Storm Bill loomed as a threat on the distant horizon.

After loading up my trusty truck with my meager offerings, I optimistically left the mountain for town. Despite carefully compiling a lengthy checklist of necessities, I forgot a table, so I spread a blanket on the tailgate upon which I laid my potted flowers and water-filled mason jars containing long stems of fresh herbs. Thankfully the heat and humidity was tolerable with a refreshing breeze off the mountain.

Once set up, I chatted with vendors who have been selling their products at the Farmer’s Market for years, such as Pete and Ann Puntigan. Among other vegetables, their display consisted of snow peas, sweet peas, cherry tomatoes, zucchini, and one of my personal favorites, “Candy” onions (a sweet onion variety similar to a Vidalia).

Marcella Waterman and her daughter Anna of Stoneyridge Farm, long-time supporters of the local farm markets, had an assortment of baked goods, heirloom tomato plants, herbs, vegetables, and pint containers of sour cherries. They also raise dairy goats and show chickens at their farm.

Newcomer Emily Hoponick of Copper Star Farm raises registered miniature donkeys at her farm in Fairfield, Pennsylvania. She had eggs from her free-roaming chickens for sale, along with skeins of rich-colored yarn spun from her sheep herd of Romney, Leicester, and Jacob breeds.

One farmer has been selling vegetables and melons since he was a teenager in Owings Mills, Maryland; but since buying a farm in Littlestown, Pennsylvania, he has joined the Emmitsburg Farmer’s Market, still traveling to Owings Mills where he maintains his original vegetable stand.

Willow Valley Farm Market of Fairfield, Pennsylvania, was represented by Stacey Crum and her daughter Ashley who sold a variety of fresh cut herbs and plants and handmade scented soaps, along with other gifts. They also have a market at their farm on Pecher Road in Fairfield, where one can find a number of products that they, and other family members, fabricate and grow.

Of course, the availability of vegetables, herbs, fruit, and flowers will change as different varieties come to maturity as the growing season progresses. Still, cooks can enjoy the farm-to-table fare without the middleman, which, by nature, is a time-consuming step during which produce can diminish in flavor and nutrients.

The beauty of local farmer’s markets is that the consumer can express their interest in different varieties of products they’d like to see from growers that they themselves may not have the time, space, or expertise to grow.

Supporting a farmer’s market is a grand way to sustain members of the community who work protracted hours preparing the earth, planting, and maintaining crops until harvest—not to mention dealing with the vagaries of weather and battling a diverse cast of winged and four-legged creatures that also enjoy fresh produce.

My offerings may not sell, but this isn’t a big deal since I grow herbs my family members enjoy, and freeze the rest either solo or in pesto.

Flowers are always cheering to the spirit. I grow flowers to help sustain ruby-throated hummingbirds, birds, and butterflies. And when winter closes in, flower seed heads feed the birds of winter yet longer.

Stroll through Emmitsburg and Thurmont’s farmers markets on Friday afternoon and Saturday morning, respectively.

While you are there, introduce yourself to the growers, for it’s said that a stranger is a friend one has yet to meet.