The rain started in earnest just before 3:00, when the Wallingford farmers market opened for the season. And the sun broke right at 7:00, when the market closed. In between, Wallingford saw one downpour after another, plus high winds. The weather was enough to keep a lot of potential shoppers away from the south parking lot of the Wallingford Center today.
The vendors we spoke with said they had few customers this afternoon. At 6:00 there were a couple dozen people shopping, the biggest crowd he’d seen that day, one merchant told us. The weather was calmer by then, but displays were still succumbing to the wind.
Today the market organizers sent out a list of vendors:
Shoppers will find their favorite farms, like Alvarez, Tiny’s, Full Circle, Stoney Plains, Summer Run, Alm Hill Gardens, Olsen, Ia’s Garden, and more, plus trusted food artisans like Pasteria Lucchese, Tall Grass Bakery, Zaw Pizza and others. They will also find newcomers like Grateful Bread Bakery, Sweet As Can Bee Honey, Firefly Kitchens with fermented foods, Jonboy Caramels and more.
A few of these hearty souls told us the phrase of the day was “It can’t get worse.” No locusts in the forecast next week, right?
Were you at the farmers market season opening? Please share your experience!
UPDATED: Reader Ryan shared this with us on Facebook:
I was there at the height of the rainfall. I was watching the cooking demonstration and was getting dumped on. I hid under the tent next to it which was selling fermented, probiotic veggies. I asked them a lot of questions and helped hold down their tent to make up for the fact I was using their tent as shelter. It was pretty surreal there, but people were I good spirits even though there were less booths and more rain than last year. I go every Wednesday and love it there. Great vendors with interesting tales about their products.
