The Ridgefield Farmers Market Gearing up for Year Two

In particular the Co-op table was a roaring success during last year's inaugural Ridgefield Farmers Market season. By season’s end our Co-op tables carried more fresh, varied, and local produce than most markets three times our size. Kudos to Darin Shields for taking an idea and running with it. This year, I’d love to see a whole row of Co-op tables. We already have more new participants lined up for 2010. Start your gardens early!

Now that we’ve established firm roots as a true "farmers" market, it’s time to expand, to draw in a more diverse selection of vendors, including arts and crafts, prepared foods, and live music. We’re even trying to come up with ways to implement the Co-op idea for arts and crafts. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

We also want to solicit ideas on how we can improve the market. A lot of vendors have approached me with some great ideas, and now it’s a matter of sifting through those and seeing what’s possible given our budget, size and location, to make 2010 bigger and better.

By the way, as we grow, we’ll also need more volunteers. Hint, hint. Anyone interested, give us a holler.

I know there were some complaints last year about us closing the market on two rainy days, and as a result we now have in place a better way to deal with our finicky weather. Basically, we won’t close. But we’ll have some incentives in place to encourage the attendance of both vendors and consumers.

The 2010 Ridgefield Farmers Market begins May 8^th, the day before Mother’s Day. There won’t be much produce, but our nurseries will have an opportunity to sell starts, and also provide a great kick-off for new arts and crafts vendors.

In looking back on 2009, I have to especially thank the City of Ridgefield for everything they’ve done. Far from throwing up roadblocks, they literally paved the way for us. And I know that has not necessarily been the case with other small markets. So, thanks. Much appreciated.

And finally, a shout-out to the community of Ridgefield! We’ve had our share of tragedy this past year, and it’s been amazing to see how the schools, city, and businesses, all pull together. We are indeed a strong community, and the tremendous support shown to the market is only one small sign of it.

Finally, go Spuds!

Bob Mayfield
Ridgefield Farmers Market Manager