The forsythia and daffodil yellows are just starting to fade, as the greens on the hills are becoming more vibrant by the minute. That’s the signal that it’s time for the Shelburne Falls Farmers’ Market season to begin!

Yes, we’re back, opening as usual on Memorial Day weekend (this Friday, 22 May), at our usual 2:00 – 6:30 time, and at our usual spot on the Green. Many of our regular vendors will be back with us on Friday, including:

• Asma’s Kitchen
• Barberic Farm
• Davenport Maple Farm
• Freeman Farm
• Good Bunch Farm
• Hiro’s Greenhouse
• Margaret Olin — Healing Therapies
• Momma’s Homemade

Some things will be the same, but with the situation around the COVID-19 pandemic, some things will be different, too. We’ve been guided by all CDC, Mass DPH, and local BOH requirements and recommendations, and are adopting policies and procedures with the goal of keeping our customers, vendors, and community healthy.

Here are the procedures that we need to ask customers and visitors to the Market to follow at this time, and we’ll keep you updated as things change.  From our press release:

-If you are sick, please stay home, and if you start to feel sick at the market, please go home.
-Everyone is required to wear a face covering (except for children under 2 and folks who, because of a medical condition, cannot).
-People are to practice social distancing by staying 6 feet apart as much as possible.

-The Market’s entrance will be near the intersection of Water & Main Streets.
-A one way lane will be set up for customers to walk along to access the line of vendors.
-The exit will be near the rock monument, further down Main Street.
-No access via Water Street will be permitted.

-Customers will not be allowed to handle merchandise. The vendor will show you their goods, collect your order, bag it if appropriate, and place it on a table for you to take.
-Payment will be done using as little contact as possible. Vendors will be set up to minimize the touching of card readers, money, pens, etc. as much as possible.
-No reusable bags nor boxes will be allowed at the Market. Please leave them in your car.
-Washing &/or sanitizing between customers will be done as necessary.
-No eating nor drinking will be allowed at the Market, even outside the fenced area.

-Customers are encouraged to only have one person per household attend the Market. If you must have child(ren) with you, they must stay within arm’s reach of the adult who brought them.
-No gathering nor playing on the Green by the general public is allowed while the Market is set up.

These are quite a few differences, and it’s a lot to remember. We’ll have volunteers with us to help (Thank you, volunteers!!), and our signs and colorful market-markings should help, too!

So, while for now, we may not be able to move as freely through the Market or chat & socialize as long as we’d like, we ask everyone to be patient as we navigate this new and changing territory together. Yes, the Market may feel a little different right now and not look quite like it does in the photo, but we’re so thankful to be able to open, and for all the support we’ve gotten from the community! Yay for this wonderful touch of “normalcy” on Friday afternoons!

Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you on Friday!

Every year, the Shelburne Falls Farmers Market hosts a special Autumn market event.  Again this year, the Market is being held on the weekend before Thanksgiving: Sunday, November 24th from 11:00am-2:00pm at the Buckland Shelburne Elementary School. That’s tomorrow (or today, depending on when you’re reading this!)

The 9th Annual Shelburne Falls Autumn Farmers Market will feature items from local farms, eateries, artisans, and churches. Items offered for sale will include: fresh produce, local frozen meats, fresh baked items, Egyptian cuisine, jams, jellies, marmalade, pickles, popcorn, wool products, plants, bodywork, maple products, leather work, and local crafts. There’s also a tea cup auction of local products donated by our vendors.

CD cover images. Both digital and 4×5. Friends of Joan Terry. Photographed at Lady Kilegrew, Montague MA. Model releases for both.

We’ll have live music all afternoon: Pat & Tex LaMountain (11:00 – 12:30) and Tim Van Egmond (12:30 – 2:00).

This will also be a big day for Marky and Shelby: Marky is retiring after many years as our Market Manager, and he’s passing the torch to Shelby, who has become rather famous for his soft hugs.

Vendors at the Autumn Market include:

• Asma’s Kitchen
• Barberic Farm
• Davenport Maple Farm
• Freeman Farm
• Good Bunch Farm
• Jolabrer Apiary,
• Joy Farm Crafts
• Kastania Olive Oil
• Margaret Olin — Healing Therapies
• Momma’s Homemade
• Mossy Roots
• Sweet Birch Herbals and Full moon Ghee
• Sweet Morning Farm
• Taproot Threads
• The Woman’s Fellowship of The First Congregation Church of Shelburne
• Wilder Hill Gardens

Come catch up with friends and neighbors, have lunch, tap your toes to good music, and get your holiday fixings! Parking and admission are free.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday!

*The Shelburne Falls Farmers’ Market is able to accept SNAP for all eligible products at the Market. Also, Good Bunch Farm and Sweet Morning Farm are able to process HIP benefits .

Friday, October 25th, will be our last outdoor Market for the season, and thank you all for stopping by, chatting, shopping, and supporting the Market this year from Memorial Day through Halloween!

Be sure to come by again this Friday for all the wonderful things offered by our vendors. Here are some of the vendors who’ll be with us:

• Asma’s Kitchen: Egyptian food, including hummus, felafel, chicken kebabs, lentil soup, and baklava
• Barberic Farm: lamb, pickles, ham, eggs, wool, crafts
• Davenport Maple Farm: maple syrup, maple products, hermit bars, and photo cards
• Freeman Farm: a wide variety of meats
• Good Bunch Farm: lots of kinds of veggies
• Joy Farm: hand-crafted beaded jewelry, crafts, & cards
• Margaret Olin — Healing Therapies: seated bodywork
• Sweet Morning Farm: meats, veggies, eggs, & herbs

Our musician this week is Bruce Colegrove, a singer/songwriter and accomplished acoustic guitarist, playing thoughtful originals and popular covers. He’ll be with us from 3:00 – 6:00.

While the 25th is our last outdoor Market, stay tuned for more information about our annual Indoor Autumn Farmers’ Market! It’s the Sunday before Thanksgiving (24 November), and will be indoors at the Buckland Shelburne Elementary School. The Autumn Market 2019 page of our website will be updated regularly as more and more vendors sign up to come. It will be a great time to visit with friends, listen to great music, stock up for your Thanksgiving dinner, and get a head start on some holiday shopping!

We look forward to seeing you on Friday,
and thanks again for your support of the Market this season!

Today (Friday, 11 October) is our last “Special Day” of the season, and special, it is!

★ To celebrate Apples & Cider day, we’re offering an apple and a free serving of cider to folks who stop by (while supplies last). 

★ Two familiar faces will be back with us this week. Mary Jean Fitzpatrick  of Kastania Olive Oil will be here, selling Extra Virgin Olive Oil from her husband’s familial village in Greece, Mediterranean sea salt, Kalamata olives, dried oregano, and soap. And this week’s musical guest is Violet Walker. She will bring us some cutting edge music with a  variety of tunes on her musical saw, as she brings back the lost folk tradition of making music with a carpenter’s saw and cello bow.

★ And Trinity Church is having a Blessing of the Animals here on the Green, starting at 4:30. They invite you to bring well-behaved and properly restrained animals from farm & field, hearth & home!

★ The vendors who will be here this week include: 

• Asma’s Kitchen
• Barberic Farm
• Davenport Maple Farm
• Freeman Farm
• Good Bunch Farm
• Joy Farm
• Kastania Olive Oil
• Margaret Olin — Healing Therapies
• Momma’s Homemade
• Sweet Morning Farm

We look forward to seeing you soon!

Thanks for coming to the Market on Customer Appreciation day last week! As part of the festivities, at the end of the afternoon we held 3 drawings for goodies donated by our vendors. Here are Marky (our Market Manager) and Shelby (our Market Manager in Training) presiding over the drawing table:

Congratulations to the winners: Rachel, Felice, and Lisa! We sing out a thank you, too, to Lui Collins for sharing her wonderful music that afternoon.

News of Upcoming Events:

★ At our first October Market — Friday, October 4th — The New-England-style fiddle band, The Super PAC Band (Passionate About Community) will be back with us for the first time this year. They play waltzes and foot-tappin’ tunes hailing from Appalachia, Scandinavia, Ireland, and even our own Connecticut River Valley.

Vendors who’ll be with us on the 4th include:

• Asma’s Kitchen
• Barberic Farm
• Davenport Maple Farm
• Freeman Farm
• Good Bunch Farm
• Margaret Olin — Healing Therapies
• Momma’s Homemade
• Sweet Morning Farm

★ On October 11th, it’ll be Apples & Cider Day at the Market. Also, Trinity will be joining us for a Blessing of the Animals, starting at 4:30. More details about both will be coming soon!

★ Our last outdoor Market will be October 25th, but the season doesn’t end then! We’ll be holding our annual Indoor Autumn Market again this year — still at the Buckland Shelburne Elementary School, and still the Sunday before Thanksgiving (which is November 24th this year). If you’d like to apply to be a vendor at the Indoor Autumn Market, the forms and detailed information are now up on our website: please visit the 2019 Autumn Market page.

It looks like it’ll be a sunny, seasonably-cool autumn day at the Market this Friday, so it may be time to break out your favorite flannel shirt before you stop by to visit! We look forward to seeing you soon!!

We’d like to thank you all for supporting the market! By coming on Fridays to shop, to catch up with friends, to listen to our weekly musicians, and to simply enjoy the beautiful green, you make the Shelburne Falls Farmers’ Market possible!

By way of thanks, here are some of the special things that will be happening this afternoon (27 September):

• Free coffee (while there’s still some in the pot)
• Free Market magnets
• Free “Vendor Goodies” drawing: 3 chances to win great items donated by our vendors
• $1-off the price of frozen yoghurt at Barberic Farm
• Free samples from some of our vendors

Our musician for this week is Lui Collins. She has been performing, writing and recording for over 40 years, earning international acclaim for her music. Her repertoire, accompanied on tenor ukulele and banjo, ranges from original and traditional folk songs and American standards to bossa nova in the original Brazilian Portuguese. She’s made 16 CD’s, performed on others’ projects, and shared the stage with such folk-world notables as Tom Rush, Bonnie Raitt, and Stan Rogers. (see her listing on the music page)

Our vendors this week include:

• Asma’s Kitchen
• Barberic Farm
• Davenport Maple Farm
• Freeman Farm
• Good Bunch Farm
• Joy Farm
• Margaret Olin — Healing Therapies
• Momma’s Homemade
• Sweet Morning Farm

The forecast is for a beautiful, sunny, not-too-hot day: a perfect day for the market!

Thanks again, and we look forward to seeing you soon!

Today we have two “welcome backs”! MJ & Kastania Olive Oil will be here today, so be sure to stop by for their organic Greek olive oil, olives and other treats! (MJ be back again on 11 October if you can’t make it over.)

And Kevin Jones will be back with us, playing his jazz, swing, and latin standards — all on live guitar with digital accompaniments.

Plus one goodbye: This will be Asa Bates’ last day with us for the season. She’ll have her full assortment of nail-polish flowers (and now, butterflies!), and mandalas. Thank you, Asa for being with us this year!

Something new today: because it’s turning a little chillier, Asma’s Kitchen will be adding hot lentil soup to their menu of Egyptian fare. Yum!

Our vendors this week include:

• Asa Bates’ Flowers & Mandalas
• Asma’s Kitchen
• Barberic Farm
• Davenport Maple Farm
• Freeman Farm
• Good Bunch Farm
• Joy Farm
• Kastania Olive Oil
• Margaret Olin — Healing Therapies
• Momma’s Homemade
• Sweet Morning Farm

We all look forward to seeing you soon!

Thank you to everyone who came out to the Shelburne Falls Farmers’ Market last week for Barbecue Day — to visit, chat, catch some free samples hot off the grill, and do your shopping. And thank you to all the vendors who contributed to the basket of goodies! Entering the drawing was free, and congratulations to the winner, Margot Peck! If you missed this drawing, stay tuned: we’ll have several more drawings later in the season.

Some comings and goings. . .  Melinda & Jonathan of Macle Designs will be back with us this week, with their handcrafted sterling and gemstone jewelry. And last Friday was Trevor’s (Hiro’s Greenhouse) last week with us for the season. If you missed him last week, you can still catch him tomorrow at the Ashfield Farmers’ Market. Thank you Trevor!

And we guess it had to happen sometime. Marky, our Market Manager, has been working really hard these past few years, and he’s starting to slow down a bit. He’ll be with us for the rest of the season, but you’ll notice him sitting next to Shelby, the market manager in training. Stop by and say hi to both, and know that Shelby is great with hugs!

Our vendors this week include:

• Asa Bates’ Flowers & Mandalas
• Asma’s Kitchen
• Barberic Farm
• Davenport Maple Farm
• Freeman Farm
• Good Bunch Farm
• Joy Farm
• Macle Designs
• Margaret Olin — Healing Therapies
• Momma’s Homemade
• Photos by Jackie
• Sweet Morning Farm

For more information on our vendors, please see check out this page on our website.

And from 3:00 – 6:00, Rob Skelton and Kevin Smith will be back with us, playing good time groovy tuba enhanced soundscape with catchy melodies. Visit our music page for more information.

See you soon!

The 4th Friday of the month? It must be another Special Day at the Shelburne Falls Farmers’ Market! Friday, August 23rd is Barbecue Day (or barbecue, or BBQ, or bar-b-q, or . . . ). However you spell it, it means that something good’s cooking! If the weather cooperates, we’ll have a grill going with some free samples from our vendors. And Marky will be busy presiding over the afternoon.

While you’re here, munch on some raw carrots, tomatoes, peppers, peas and cukes — along with the prepared foods always at the market: Egyptian fare from Asma’s Kitchen (including babaganoush, chicken shish kabobs, felafel sandwiches, and baklava), root beer & frozen yoghurt from Barberic Farm, and hermit bars & maple goodies from Davenport Maple Farm. If you’re wanting to grill some meat this weekend, you can stock up on burgers, chops, and sausage. And new for the second week in a row at Sweet Morning Farm: hotdogs! (In other Sweet Morning news, now they can accept “Market Dollars” — both WIC and Senior Dollars!)

Our vendors this week include:

• Asa Bates’ Flowers & Mandalas
• Asma’s Kitchen
• Barberic Farm
• Davenport Maple Farm
• Freeman Farm
• Good Bunch Farm
• Hiro’s Greenhouse
• Joy Farm
• Margaret Olin — Healing Therapies
• Momma’s Homemade
• Photos by Jackie
• Sweet Morning Farm

This will be Photos by Jackie‘s last Friday with us for the season, so be sure to stop by and see Jackie’s artwork!For more information on our vendors, please see check out this page on our website.

And from 3:00 – 6:00, Claire Dacey will be back with us. Claire is a folk singer-songwriter, instrumentalist, naturalist/ecologist, visual artist, and teacher. Visit our music page for more information.

We’ll also have a drawing: come and enter to win a collection of barbecue goodies from our vendors! It’s free to enter, and you don’t have to be here at 6:15 to win. But then again, once you’re at the Market, you may not want to leave: it’s the place to be on a Friday afternoon!

See you soon!

It looks like the weather today will be sunny, not too humid, and not too hot either — making it a perfect afternoon for being at the Shelburne Falls Farmers’ Market!

Today you’ll see two familiar faces, back with us for the first time this season.

Mary Jean Fitzpatrick of Kastania Olive Oil will be here, selling Extra Virgin Olive Oil from her husband’s familial village in Greece, Mediterranean sea salt, Kalamata olives, dried oregano, and soap. And this week’s musical guest is Violet Walker. From 3:00 – 6:00 she will bring us some cutting edge music with a  variety of tunes on her musical saw, as she brings back the lost folk tradition of making music with a carpenter’s saw and cello bow.

Our vendors this week include:

• Asa Bates’ Flowers & Mandalas
• Asma’s Kitchen
• Barberic Farm
• Davenport Maple Farm
• Freeman Farm
• Good Bunch Farm
• Hiro’s Greenhouse
• Joy Farm
• Kastania Olive Oil
• Margaret Olin — Healing Therapies
• Momma’s Homemade
• Sweet Morning Farm

For more information on our vendors, please see check out this page on our website.

Looking forward to seeing you this afternoon!