• Lansdale Farmers’ Market Wraps Up a Successful Year

    November 30, 2009 | 0 Comments

    Check out today’s LFM article in The Reporter:

    For 21 Saturdays over five months, they were there — more than 25 vendors selling their goods at Lansdale’s Railroad Plaza., rain or shine.

    And now that the first season of the Lansdale Farmers Market has ended, some of the market’s vendors are already looking forward to next year.

    “I think a lot of us wanted to just kind of see what the market would be like this year, but it was so well received that next year, I know I definitely want to bring a broader line of products,” said baker Eric Saxman of Harvest Moon Bakery.

    Saxman, an artisan bread baker whose loaves have no preservatives and no additives, started baking his own breads in his Upper Gwynedd home after several years of work in the restaurant industry as a sous chef and executive chef.

    “This year I did mostly your classic European-style breads, baguettes, sourdoughs, things like that, and I did some pan breads and things like cinnamon raisin, but next year I’m hoping to have things like chocolate cherry sourdough and chocolate banana breads,” Saxman said.

    “I know how to make them, it’s just a matter of knowing how many to put into production,” Saxman said.

    His breads can be found through the Virago Baking Company, Upper Gwynedd, over the winter.

    Saxman is not the only vendor looking forward to next year: farmer Thad Jett of Jett’s Produce said he wants to see the market season start a bit earlier next year.

    “I’d like to see the market open a lot earlier than it did this year; the worst problem we had was Mother Nature, she gave us a run of about six or seven rainy Saturdays toward the end of the season,” said Jett.

    His stand on Ridge Road near Telford is already taking orders for free-range turkeys and is gearing up for Christmas trees, he said, but this year’s strong year at the Lansdale Farmers Market is still very much on his mind.

    “It seemed like the community really wanted a strong market in Lansdale; they want to buy from their local farmers and we were one of them,” Jett said.

    Market manager Brooke Wasser said she had originally planned to have between 10 and 15 vendors, and ended up with 25 having sold their produce at least once.

    “Our vendors made the market, and were

    absolutely wonderful to work with. Not only did they bring high-quality products week after week, but they’re some of the most fantastic and hard-working people I’ve ever met, and I’m thankful to have had the privilege of working with them,” Wasser said.

    Next year’s location is still somewhat up in the air, but Wasser said she hopes to open sometime in June, ideally in the borough’s downtown where Lansdale residents and guests from out of town can both access the market.

    “From the beginning, the community rallied behind the market and really gave us a reason to come out week after week,” said Wasser.

    “Not only was the market a place to purchase goods, it was also a place to meet up with friends and neighbors, which is really what we hoped it would be,” said Wasser.

    “We are looking forward to working with council in the spring and agreeing on a location that works best long-term,” she added.

    Updates on that site, starting times, and winter planning meetings will be posted online at www.LansdaleFarmersMarket.org.

    Borough council President Jack Hansen can’t wait for the market’s next season to start.

    “I’ve been there almost every Saturday since they opened, and every vendor is first class. They come in and have incredible merchandise,” Hansen said.

    Categories: News

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