What's your summer weakness? Super-rich ice cream? Marinara sauce made from fresh heirloom paste tomatoes? Jams bursting with the flavor of new fruit? Or, is it hand-made crafts? Wearable art and jewelry? Plants to brighten your late-summer garden?
Whatever it is, New England artisans, farmers and specialty food producers will offer it at the Elm Bank Reservation on Saturday, August 7 as the Massachusetts Horticultural Society presents the annual Massachusetts Marketplace Festival. From 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. marketplace vendors will display and sell an array of foods, plants, and crafts representing the finest products from the region's fields, farms, gardens, workshops, and kitchens.
Elm Bank, the 36-acre home of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, includes colorful gardens that will be in full summer glory for the event. The entrance to Elm Bank is on Route 16 in Wellesley at the Natick/Wellesley line.
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The festival will include a full day of food sampling, shopping, and guided tours of Elm Bank's idyllic gardens. Music will be provided by the Nowheremen, who feature a catalog of Beatles hits and other music of the early Sixties.
Over 40 vendors – all of whom are locally based - will bring their freshest produce and products available for sampling and purchase. There will be jewelry, homemade crafts, baked goods, teas, herbs, fine art, and plants from locations throughout New England. Master Gardeners will offer both gardening advice and programs for children.
A sampling of vendors include Boston's Notting Hall, which offers specialty loose teas from classic greens to full-bodied blacks as well as custom and flavored blends and Boxborough's Coutts Specialty Foods, which will have the quality jams and jellies that have made them a New England favorite since 1938. Francis Domec of Medford will offer hand-thrown terra cotta ceramics; eco-friendly functional bowls, mugs and vases; and hand-designed vessels inspired by nature motifs. Natural Pressings of Canton, ME Sinatra Designs of Norwell, and Blooming Stars Arts of Norwood will offer paper products in varying themes.
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There's Boston Italian Ice, specializing in lemon and watermelon ice, as well as fresh-squeezed lemonade; Warren Farm and Sugarhouse with an array of gourmet maple products, salsa and pickles; and Wellesley's White Mountain Creamery with its award-winning homemade ice cream.
When you've had your fill of food, you may want to look at pottery from Weston's The Accidental Potter or try on hand-spun angora and sheep's wool knitted items from Twisted Mysteries on Amherst. There will be cactus and succulents from Teaberry Gardens and the Cactus and Succulent Society of Massachusetts, as well as lilies from Stow Greenhouses and annuals from MassHort's own stock.
Visitors are encouraged to bring a blanket and enjoy a picnic lunch with family and friends in the gardens - bring your own, or purchase food from one of the vendors. Guests may spend some time exploring the many gardens of Elm Bank including the colorful New England Trial Garden, the historic Italianate Garden, Weezie's Garden for Children, Bressingham Garden and the New England Herb Society Garden. Regular guided tours of the gardens will be provided by Massachusetts Master Gardeners.
Tickets are $6 and $2 for children under 12 years with a discount for Horticultural Society members. Tickets may be purchased at the gate. Event proceeds benefit the Massachusetts Horticultural Society. Please visit www.MassHort.org for additional details.
