Medfield Farmers' Market Finds Early Success on North Street

Organizers estimate that hundreds of people visit the Medfield Farmers' Market each week. 

Now in its fourth week, it has three vendors and graces the lawn of the First Parish (26 North St.) from 2 to 5:30 p.m. 

Vendors include Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon, Langwater Farm in Easton, and Medfield Green.

“It’s going really well right now; I think it’s going to be successful,” said Steve Catanese, an organizer of the market.  “We’re growing at the right pace and people seem to like what’s coming in … Right now, we have strawberries, blueberries, lettuce, kale, zucchini, beets, and flowers; and within a couple weeks, we’ll have tomatoes (including heirloom and cherry varieties) and corn. Then, in the fall, we’ll have pumpkins and gourds.”

Alida Cantor and Rose James of Langwater Farms said the market has been “great so far.”  In fact, during the first week of market, they sold out in two hours. 

“We have zucchini, summer squash, carrots, beets and flowers,” said Cantor, noting that their biggest seller thus far has been beets.

“We’ve learned that people in Medfield love beets,” said Cantor, as she spritzed her vegetables.

Catanese said produce at the Farmers’ Market may seem to cost more than it does at the supermarket, but, in his opinion, it is well worth it “because you’re getting something that was picked that day and didn’t have to sit on a truck for a couple weeks.” 

Medfield Green also has a table at the market to raise awareness and spread “green” education.

There is also space for one non-profit organization per week to have a table, at no charge, to promote their cause and raise awareness for their organization. 

The Medfield Farmers’ Market has space for 10 vendors and currently has three. The hope is to expand the market in a way that offers shoppers a variety without having too many conflicting vendors. 

“The death of most farmers’ markets is you have a lot of farmers come in and there are too many, they don’t make enough … It has to be profitable for them,” said Catanese.

He also said the top customer complaint has been the 5:30 p.m. end time which makes it difficult for people with a long commute to get back into town by closing time. 

Catanese said they would like to extend closing time to 6:30 p.m.  

For more information on the tables or on the Medfield Farmers’ Market itself, contact Sandra Andreassi at (508) 359-4594 or admin@firstparishmedfield.org.