Farmers' Market Brings in Large Crowd

Although the temperature was pushing 90 degrees and the humidity was soaring, it did not keep customers away from the farmers' market on Winchester's Town Common on Saturday. This is because for the vendors and patrons at the market it's a great time to get out into the community.

"Whenever I'm in town, I come here," Carolyn Vernaglia said. "Everything is nice and fresh and it's great to support the community and enjoy everything here."

The Winchester Market is open, rain or shine, every Saturday from 9:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m. June through Oct. 30. Here you can find a wide variety of locally grown produce, breads, fresh seafood and much more. There is even a stand, Taza's Chocolates, featuring stone ground organic chocolate. Another, Fiore di Nonno's, boasts mozzarella that is made fresh daily.

Deborah Taylor who sells bottled, all natural, fruit spreads stressed the importance of the market to the community as a way to meet customers and talk about the necessity of eating well.

"Buy local. Eat local," Taylor said. "Lots of things here were even just picked today."

Ed Silvia, the owner of E.L. Silvia Farms, echoed the sentiment of many of the vendors at the market when he emphasized that business has been excellent. Silvia has two farms, one in Dighton and the other in Somerset. The Somerset farm is the same one in which he grew up on and farmed as a boy. Yet, although Silvia's roots are in Dighton, he's developed a very strong bond with Winchester.

"It's nice to be part of the community," Silvia said. "Within two years, you come to know everyone and you feel more part of things here than in Dighton."

It's that sense of community that makes the Winchester Farmers' Market a special place for many. Mame Mbaye,  a vendor at Mamadou's Artisan Bakery said, "People are social and nice. There is so much fun when there is music. People are welcoming."

And very few of them are walking away empty handed.

"I come here to get one or two things," Jack Waite said. "Then I end up getting six or seven."

Yet for Mike Lane, a vendor selling lobsters and scallops, the challenging economic times have driven down the prices to levels that he says his industry has not seen in decades. But he added that business is still going well and lobsters are now more affordable for people.

"We're pulling together and making the most of it," Lane said.

The same can be said for those who spent part of their Saturday taking in summer and soaking up all that the Winchester Farmers' Market has to offer.