Fresh food, free entertainment and a friendly atmosphere
By: Nick Norlen
WEST WINDSOR Fresh food, free entertainment and a friendly atmosphere.
Welcome to the West Windsor Community Farmers’ Market.
Now in its fourth season, the market will open Saturday and will run every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. through late October at the Vaughn Drive parking lot at the Princeton Junction train station.
Launched by volunteers in 2004, the market features seasonal and organic produce, poultry, flowers, bedding plants and baked goods from 12 different vendors, including 10 farms, an orchid grower and a bakery all within a one-hour radius of the Princeton area.
Market co-founder Beth Feehan said organizers are excited to get the fourth season under way.
"It has met and exceeded our expectations," she said. "We have been thrilled to see people come back as regular customers. We are lucky to see new faces every year, too."
This year, a few new farmers will be added to a roster that includes Princeton’s Catalpa Farm, Griggstown Quail Farm, Lambertville’s North Slope Organic Farm, and Lawrence’s Village Bakery and Terhune Orchards.
Citing the increase in the farmers markets nationwide, Ms. Feehan said it’s increasing important to people to know where their food comes from.
"’Local’ has become such an important aspect of food," she said, noting the global emphasis on keeping the "local food supply viable and available."
The market is also a tribute to the township’s agrarian roots, Ms. Feehan said.
"There’s not a lot farms left in our area," she said. "We definitely want the children who live in West Windsor to understand what the land used to be and to connect to food in a way that they’re not necessarily used to compared to a grocery store or a restaurant."
To celebrate the township’s beginnings as a farming town, West Windsor Farm Heritage Day will be held June 16.
But according to new Market Manager Theresa Best, that link to the past is evident every Saturday.
"It’s wonderful. It’s just a great feeling. You bump into so many people you know," she said. "It’s a really nice community kind of a effect that old-fashioned kind of feel."
Ms. Best said she is looking to add food vendors to the mix this year, but said the market is really just a "non-threatening" atmosphere where people can relax without being bothered by aggressive salespeople.
Ms. Feehan agreed.
"It has been increasingly becoming a place where people just kind of hang out on Saturdays," she said.
To that end, board member Susan Stember has been busy scheduling weekly entertainment for the season, including West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North’s jazz and steel bands, High School South’s a capella group, West Windsor folk musician Bob Meckenlenburger, local trio Shikantaza, and the Marshal Dixieland Band.
"We try to support or local artists musicians young and old," she said.
Admission to the market is free.
More information is available at www.westwindsorfarmersmarket.org.