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 this afternoon in a neighboring town! (For those of you already wondering what to do with kids now that summer break is officially starting this afternoon, this could offer a fun way to kick it off.)
While Famers Markets offer a way to get fresh, local produce without growing it yourself, they tend to focus more on small businesses offering baked/prepared foods and artisan goods. Some add entertainment to make it a fun, family-friendly outing.
There aren’t any Farmers Markets currently offered in town. (And this season, Chestnut Hill Farm isn’t running its CSA program and doesn’t appear to be planning to run a store on the property either. Stay tuned for a future post about the farm.) So, each year, I share the info on the markets a stone’s throw away.
Neighboring Farmers Markets
For more communal markets, you don’t have to drive far to find one. There are Farmers Markets three days per week in a bordering town. Below are the area options listed by day.
Thursdays:
Westborough Farmers Market – Opening today! Thursdays from 2:00 – 6:00 pm, through October 17th at a new location — Bay State Commons, 100 Union St, Westborough.
Live music accompanies 20+ vendors selling prepared foods, gifts, and more. Plus, this year they launched a POP (Power of Produce) Club with samples and activities to help get kids interested in eating healthy foods.
Framingham Farmers’ Market – (Opening next week) Thursdays starting June 20th (no end date specified) from 3:00 – 7:00 pm (and food trucks “arriving early”) on the Village Green/Center Common (60 Edgell Road). They are specifying a new parking plan – so check those details here.
The market is promoting farms and 75+ vendors. (But I can’t say how many are there on any given week.)
Saturdays:
Ashland Farmers Market – Already open Saturdays from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm through October 19th, at 125 Front Street. (Plus a special pre-Thanksgiving event on November 23rd.)
This market was voted the Best of 2022 by MetroWest Daily News readers. Each week there are about 20 food vendors on site (many are weekly, others rotate). A long list of Artisans also rotate through the market. And there are special themes and performances throughout the summer. (You can find those in their calendar.)
Marlborough Farmers Market – (Opening this weekend – see vendors right.) Open Saturdays from 9:00 am – 1:00 pm through October 7. This year’s location is a parking lot on Weed Street.
The weekly event will feature “farm fresh produce, specialty foods, artisans, live music and more.”
Sundays:
Eastleigh Farmers’ Market – Open Sundays at Eastleigh Farm, 1062 Edmands Rd, Framingham. (No times or dates are specified this year, but it is outdoors in the summer and in their refurbished barn off season.)
In addition to the farm’s own goods, vendors are “local artisans, farms, food purveyors and local organizations”.
Hopkinton Farmers Market – Already open Sundays from 1:00 – 5:00 pm through October 13th, 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.
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 and runs from 3:30- 6:30 pm June 18th through September 24th at Town Hall/78 Main Street.
Wednesdays:
Shrewsbury Summer Market runs through September 12th (except for July 4th) at the Shrewsbury Town Hall, 100 Maple Ave. Farmers & Artisans are from 3:00 – 6:30 pm (with food trucks remaining one hour longer), and occasional acoustic performers.
Grafton runs from 2:00 – 6:00 pm June 1th through October 9th at Grafton Common.
