Food Friday: Farmers’ Markets

Tomorrow is Saturday, a day chock-a-block with adventure potential. Who wants to sleep late when the farmers’ markets are open and the fresh produce is gleaming? Or because Luke the wonder dog is wriggling and curvetting at the first sign of the rosy-fingered dawn? It’s not even six o’clock, and we are stumbling through the house, making coffee, making plans.

Our local farmers’ market is downtown, about a ten-minute drive away. Some of you might be lucky enough to live just a stroll or a bike ride away from the market. We bid a fond adieu to Mr. Wiggles, who is suddenly overcome with the need for a morning nap. We climb into the car, clutching our souvenir Trader Joe’s tote bags, and head out to hunt and gather fruit and vegetables for the week ahead.

After parking, we walk around a couple of dozen stalls of tempting seasonal fruits, vegetables, flowers, crafts, organic eggs, jewelry, seafood, soaps, and coffees. The people were just as varied: yoga pants people, plump; madras shorts-wearing folks; a young pastel-y Lilly Pulitzer family; some earnest old folks striding around in their Hokas and athleisure-wear, fresh from the Y. Poor Luke. Don’t tell him what he missed. There were all sorts of foods that he would have enjoyed: kettle corn, sausage biscuits, a fallen scoop of ice cream…

We stood in one line for some ears of local blueberries – it’s blueberry season here. Then we found another line for some new potatoes. The farmer told us as he manipulated the digital scale that he had dug the potatoes on Thursday afternoon. We love a good backstory. And then we got in the car, hoping that it was time for Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me!, as we turned towards Luke and home. We could have saved time and just buzzed over to the grocery store to make our produce purchases, but it was a worthwhile adventure to get out and meet the folks who raise, grow, and dig our food. It is a sunny beginning to summer.

Now it’s your turn. Go out to your farmers’ market tomorrow and buy some kettle corn, and eat an ice cream cone. Buy some jewel-like radishes and a pint or two of blueberries. Pat some dogs. And maybe you’ll bake some Blueberry Breakfast Cake for tomorrow morning.

The Preakness is being run this weekend at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore. Do you have all the makings for The Black-Eyed Susan at home? It is a heady mix of vodka and bourbon, shaken with peach schnapps, orange juice, and sour mix.

Cambridge Farmers Market
May – October – Thursdays, 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Farmers’ Market at Long Wharf

Chestertown Farmers’ Market 
Saturdays, 8:00 AM to Noon
High & Cross Streets & Fountain Park

St. Michaels Farmers’ Market 
Saturdays, 8:30 AM-11:30 AM
206 S. Talbot St., St. Michaels, MD, 21663
The St. Michaels Farmers’ Market is closed this week, due to the annual Running Festival, but you should go next week.

Easton Farm Market 
Saturdays, 8:00 AM-1:00 PM, Rain or Shine
100 Block of North Harrison Street, in the municipal parking lot

Kent Island Farmers’ Market 
Thursdays, 3:30 PM-6:30 PM, year-round
Cult Classic Brewery, 1169 Shopping Center Rd. in Stevensville

Centreville Farmers’ Market
Sundays, 9 AM – 1 PM
Town Hall, 101 Lawyer’s Row, Centreville, MD 21617

“We eat the year away. We eat the spring and the summer and the fall. We wait for something to grow and then we eat it.”
― Shirley Jackson

AI Disclosure: The Spy and its writers may use artificial intelligence tools to support accuracy and clarity in our reporting.

Francoise Sullivan is the new Associate Editor of The Chestertown Spy and a community advocate based in Worton, Maryland. She previously served a term on the Kent County Board of Education, where she focused on transparency, fiscal responsibility, and student-centered policy. Sullivan also serves as Chair of the Kent County Chapter of the Delmarva Pride Center. Her work centers on local government, education, and civic engagement, providing clear, accessible coverage of issues affecting Kent County.