Farmers market ready to open
Timed entry, new site among changes for new market season
LANSDALE » This Saturday will bring a new site, new rules and a new manager, along with ten old favorites for fans of the Lansdale Farmers’ Market.
In many ways, it’ll still be the same market the area has grown to know and love — with a few adjustments for 2020, like the signs you’ll see referencing six pies for safe social distancing.
“‘Six pies,’ that’s going on the signage: ‘Make sure there’s six pies between you and your neighbor,’” said market volunteer coordinator Mallory Peterson.
Since 2009 the market has set up at numerous locations around town, bringing dozens of food and craft vendors and live performers and educators from across Pennsylvania. With 2020 being 2020, the market’s opening has been delayed by about three weeks from normal, with plenty of changes including a new location and new entry rules meant to protect visitors from COVID-19.
“The biggest thing is what’s already been done: the communication, and making sure the customers know what to expect, and that they can still be a part of it,” said new market manager Peter Derstine.
“We will have hand-washing stations, and sanitizer at every vendor. Safety is first, and as long as everybody’s on board, I think it’s going to be really good,” he said.
Starting in 2017, the market has been held in the parking lots of Penndale Middle School in Lansdale. With public schools closed since March and all large group activities still restricted by the state, organizers have had to make more than a few adjustments.
The market’s new location, approved by borough council in late May, is at 645 West Ninth Street, in parking lots formerly occupied by the borough’s temporary municipal complex from 2013-15. Instead of the typical walk-up traffic and browsing what each vendor offers, visitors to the market will be limited this year to small groups assigned time slots awarded alphabetically based on last name, when customers can enter to pick up pre-orders from market vendors. Masks will be required, with extras available for anyone without one, and in recent days the market has ramped up their social media posts asking customers to start communicating with their favorite vendors.
When visitors turn off of Moyers Road, they’ll see volunteers wearing LFM shirts and holding the trademark neon yellow signs pointing the way, likely led by longtime market volunteer Patti Thomas. Drivers will be directed past the two paved parking lots where vendors will be set up, to turn around in an unpaved gravel lot between the vendor area and the adjacent
“‘Six pies,’ that’s going on the signage: ‘Make sure there’s six pies between you and your neighbor.’ ” Market volunteer Mallory Peterson.
Lansdale Electric building, and can then park along the shoulder of Ninth Street and walk from there to find their favorites.
“It’s natural that I’d volunteer to do that, because I used to be a school crossing guard many years ago. And I’m a retired pastor, so I’m not averse to telling people how to get where they need to go,” Thomas said.
On the market’s first Saturday, ten vendors will be set up, and pre-orders can be made via a dedicated page on the market’s website. The following Saturday ten more will be there, and ten more to bring the total to 30 on June 20, coronavirus conditions permitting, and each market day will still be open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., rain or shine. Live music and lectures won’t be possible this year, but longtime vendors April and Jeff Clarke of Lund Brothers Nursery said they’ve been preparing for weeks for that first Saturday.
“We’ve got some good, nice, large tomato plants,” Jeff said; “that have flowers on them — that might be tomatoes by the end of the month,” April added.
“More people are gardening, because they are struck at home,” she added, and he continued: “I think more people are going to be doing edibles, vegetables. We’re ready for them.”
A few spots away will be Sheila Rhodes, owner of Small Batch Kitchen, who said she’ll be doing her own shopping on week one before her stand full of spreads and jams can open on week two.
“Since we won’t be able to do samples this year, we’ll give out a lot of recipe suggestions, and other stuff people can take home. We have a lot of customers at our market who are excited to come out and do some local shopping outside,” she said.
“I am ready. I am sooooooo ready, to not be inside any more, to talk to people again — I can’t wait to be out here,” Rhodes said.
Rhodes said she knows the new site from her husband’s rugby games on the nearby ballfields, and
Thomas said she can remember her son growing up playing ball there. Volunteer Paul Caracciolo added that he’s looking forward to hearing how customers like the new site, and getting feedback to make adjustments, and said he hopes the hundreds of hours of planning will pay off.
“One of the things people don’t realize is, once the market closes in November, that’s our busy time. We go from November to now planning for next year, getting vendors lined up, fielding applications, picking the spots out — it’s a lot of work behind the scenes,” he said. “People are excited, and we have great customers. I think they’ll rise to the occasion.”
Board member Carol Zellers said this winter’s planning process involved more partner agencies than usual, including the federal Center for Disease Control, the state Department of Agriculture, the Montgomery County Department of Health and Lansdale borough Council, which voted in late May to approve the new site and setup.
What will the first few arrivals see on Saturday morning? “I think we’re going to have people ready to come in whose names begin with A, B and C, and they’re going to be very excited to pick up their pre-orders,” Zellers said.
“I’ve talked to a number of them, and their feedback was ‘Geez, it was so easy, we just went to the webpage, the pre-order page, and boom, boom boom.’ And the vendors love it, because it helps them figure out what to bring,” she said.
As they got a feel for the site on Tuesday, Peterson said she liked being able to hear birds and see trees without hearing train horns like at Penndale, and Rhodes said the new site is much closer to her home, while the Clarkes joked their commute is now longer. As they spoke, most sported t-shirts with the market’s logo in several different colors: black for Peterson, red for Zellers, purple for Thomas, grey for Caracciolo, and tossed around ideas for a 2020 shirt design, or maybe masks, once the market and its customers get used to the new rules.
“I think we’re going to have a good crowd. I think people are eager to experience something that feels more like before,” Zellers said.
For more on the market visit www.LansdaleFarmersMarket. org, search for “Lansdale Farmers’ Market” on Facebook or follow @LansdaleFM on Twitter.
“I am ready. I am sooooooo ready, to not be inside any more, to talk to people again — I can’t wait to be out here.”