Above: Area Farmers Markets have all reopened or will within a week. (Photos L-R of Westborough’s from Facebook and Ashland’s by Beth Melo)
Farmers Market Season is here — including an Opening Day tomorrow afternoon in a neighboring town!
While Famers Markets offer a way to get fresh, local produce without growing it yourself, they actually tend to focus more on small businesses offering baked/prepared foods and artisan goods. And some add entertainment to make it a fun, family-friendly outing.
There aren’t any Farmers Markets currently offered in town. So, each year, I share the info on the markets a stone’s throw away.
There are Farmers Markets three days per week in a bordering town. Below are the area options listed by day.
Thursdays:
Westborough Farmers Market – Opens tomorrow! Thursdays from 2:00 – 6:00 pm, through October 8th at Bay State Commons, 100 Union St, Westborough.
Live music accompanies 20+ vendors selling prepared foods, gifts, and more. You can find the list each week (and a map of where to locate their booth) here.
Plus, the Westborough Rotary Club expanded its POP (Power of Produce) Club offering weekly “POP bucks” to spend on locally grown fruits and veggies at the market. It was originally for kids. Now they also offer membership to seniors ages 70+ and “adults with intellectual disabilities”. Sign up here.
Framingham Farmers’ Market – (Opening next week) Thursdays starting June 18th through October 8th from 3:00 – 7:00 pm on the Village Green/Center Common (60 Edgell Road & Vernon St).
There will be music and entertainment. This year, they are promoting a lot of new vendors, and promising that 70% of vendors will be “food and food-related”, including new drink vendors and several new bakeries.
They are also promoting that (at least for the first event), several food trucks will show up early, starting at noon.
Saturdays:
Ashland Farmers Market – Opened last week. It runs on Saturdays from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm through October 17th, at 125 Front Street. (Plus a special pre-Thanksgiving event on November 21st.)
They are again promoting about “80 unique vendors” and an interactive map to find them. (Based on prior years, expect some vendors to appear weekly but others to rotate through the season.) Traditionally, each week has had a different theme. So far, they aren’t posting a calendar for that this season. But you can check for special activities to be posted on Facebook.
Marlborough Farmers Market – The outdoor market opens this Saturday from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm, weekly through October 3rd. It’s located behind Town Hall (which appears to be a parking lot off Weed Street).
The weekly event features produce from farms, a music tent, kids activity tent, specialty foods, alcohol, artisans, and more.
Sundays:
Hopkinton Farmers Market – This past weekend was their opening. It continues on Sundays from 1:00 – 5:00 pm through October 11th, on the Hopkinton Common (corner of Marathon Way and Ash St).
The website offers a link to a weekly list of which food vendors and artisans are scheduled to show, along with occasional musical acts.
[Editor’s Note: It looks like Eastleigh Farm isn’t promoting a weekly Sunday farmer’s market this year.]
Further Flung
There aren’t any nearby on Mondays or Fridays, but there are markets in secondary neighboring towns to fill the gaps on two other days of the week.
Tuesdays:
Hudson opens next week, running June 16th, through September 22nd from 3:30- 6:00 pm at Town Hall/78 Main Street. (Closed on July 7th and September 8th.)
Wednesdays:
Grafton runs from 2:00 – 6:00 pm June 17th through October 7th at Grafton Common.
