There’s a strong local appetite for farmers markets, which vendors are eager to satisfy

By Pam George
Photograph by Pamela Aquilani
From the June 2022 issue

june-2022-issue

Rehoboth Beach resident Pat Coluzzi once dreaded buying groceries in the summer. The errand required a trip on Route 1, which often resembles a parking lot. So, in 2007, she spearheaded the formation of the Rehoboth Beach Farmers Market in Grove Park. The ability to find fresh food within walking distance wasn’t the only motive. “I wanted to do something specifically for the community,” she recalls. 

The Tuesday market had 14 vendors for its inaugural year. Now it averages around 38 and has a waiting list. And, as Coluzzi had hoped, the market is a social hub. “People hang out with friends, listen to music — that’s what it’s all about,” she says.

 

The Rehoboth market is one of many along the coast that have developed loyal followers. Bethany Beach resident Liane Hansen, for one, rarely misses the Bethany Beach Farmers Market and the Farmers Market at Sea Colony. “I can walk to both, which is great for me,” she says.

The events have also become tourist attractions. “With at least one farmers market taking place almost every day in season, our visitors can easily fit trips to the markets into their vacation schedules,” notes Tina Coleman, communications manager for Southern Delaware Tourism.

But given that there are markets sprinkled from Lewes to Ocean City, Md., one might wonder if the pie is sliced too thin. What’s more, farmers markets are often linked with now cliched terms such as “farm-to-table” and “locavore.”

Nonetheless, not even a pandemic could dampen most coastal markets’ popularity.

What’s old is new again

A fact of life in a pre-supermarket society, farmers markets began disappearing in the mid-to-late 20th century. By 1994, there were under 2,000 nationwide. However, at the turn of the 21st century, health-minded consumers turned away from mass-produced foods to search for small, local purveyors.

The Historic Lewes Farmers Market, now the largest in the state, was the first to capture the public’s attention. Helaine Harris spearheaded the project after learning that a local boutique grower was having difficulty selling direct to the public. As someone familiar with Washington, D.C., farmers markets, Harris created a detailed business plan. And she had her eye on the perfect location: the Lewes Historical Society’s leafy grounds dotted with picturesque historical buildings. The society, the city council and the residents gave their blessing — although some needed convincing.

The Saturday morning market, which started in 2006, was cutting edge. In 2007, “locavore” was the New Oxford American Dictionary’s word of the year. The term refers to people who prefer to buy food produced within or near their local region. 

By 2019, there were more than 8,000 farmers markets throughout the country, including the Rehoboth Beach Farmers Market and the Nassau Valley Vineyards Farmers Market, which Coluzzi also manages. 

Location, location

The Lewes farmers market’s original setting had charm and visibility. “People could look straight down Second Street and see the white tents,” notes Sharon Dardine, the secretary. (She and Harris are the only remaining original board members.) However, the Historic Lewes Farmers Market and the Lewes Historical Society parted ways in 2016. The society had spent $400,000 restoring the grounds, which could no longer accommodate the more than 35 vendors. Undeterred, the market found a new home at George H.P. Smith Park, where it has remained.

“Initially, it was a challenge because people were used to us being at the Lewes Historical Society,” Dardine acknowledges. More recently, the market has attracted more visitors — some 2,000 each Saturday — than it did while on the society grounds. The Lewes operation has grown so popular that it added a Wednesday market near Crooked Hammock Brewery, which has parking available. 

Indeed, each market’s setting adds to its appeal. For example, the Nassau Valley market is off the beaten path, but the winery is sprinkled with European-style buildings, mature trees and parking — and there’s wine.

Rehoboth Beach Farmers Market’s shady area is a pleasing contrast to the sun-splashed beaches, and its downtown locale is a boon for those who can walk to it. The Riverwalk Farmers Market in downtown Milford and the new Broadkill Farmers Market in Milton are near picturesque rivers.

Produce plus

A farmers market’s primary appeal is produce, dairy and meats. “I like to buy fresh, and I like to buy local,” says Andrea Finestrauss, who has a home in Milton’s historic district. She bikes to the Lewes market to get her dairy fix from Nice Farms Creamery.

Over the years, fruit and vegetable options have gone beyond peaches and lima beans. At the Bethany Beach 

market, Hansen discovered lion’s mane mushrooms and tennis ball-sized lemon cucumbers. And she loves that she can get Old World Breads’ products without driving north to Nassau.

The offerings at each market differ depending on the organization’s mission. The Historic Lewes Farmers Market, for instance, only rents to producers who grow, make or raise the goods they sell. “We don’t have any crafts at our market, and we have very few prepared foods,” Dardine says. 

Similarly, the Bethany Beach Farmers Market, held at Garfield Parkway and Pennsylvania Avenue, only allows vendors who sell products grown or raised within 120 miles of Bethany. There is no application process; the committee invites vendors to participate, says Doug Mowrey, the market’s president since 2014.

Other markets aren’t as strict. Consider the Riverwalk iteration in Milford, founded in 1994 and reorganized in 2012. “Milford is an art town,” says Melissa Pingue, who chairs the market’s volunteer committee. “We make sure we have crafters and artists, including the [Mispillion] art league, but we try to stay 70 percent farmers.”

The Rehoboth and Nassau Valley markets both feature live music. At the latter, people bring folding chairs, buy wine and settle in for the duration, says Coluzzi. In Lewes, city ordinances don’t permit outdoor music at the market, which instead has cooking and other types of demonstrations. The Milford market stopped live music after vendors said it interfered with their ability to chat with customers.

No easy task

It takes more than talk to sell goods. “There’s a saying: ‘Pile it high and watch it fly,’” says Jenny Dittmar, who, with husband Zach owns Dittmar Family Farms in Felton. “The better the presentation, the better you’re going to do. Even if you don’t have high quantities of things, you make it look like you do.”

Signage is important too, she adds. Her farm also sells meat that’s kept cold and out of sight. As a result, meat sales were slow the first year that the farm participated in the Historic Lewes Farmers Market. The following year, the Dittmars put a chicken on the banner and a chicken statue on the table. Sales took off.

Dittmar participates in both Lewes markets and would like to do more. However, many area gatherings are limited by space constraints or municipal regulations. Mowrey says the Bethany market is tapped out at about 15 vendors. Still, it’s not about size. “Our goal is to be selective,” he says. 

That’s not to say vendors aren’t equally choosy. Dittmar dropped out of one market due to lackluster sales, which first have to cover fees that vary depending on the organization. “Some charge a rent for the season, some charge daily and some charge an initial fee plus a percentage of the sales,” explains Keith Irwin of Old World Breads, a market veteran. “You hope that the market follows through on their end with consistent marketing efforts and other ways to generate foot traffic.”

Vendors also must justify the labor it takes to pack and unpack trucks. The new Broadkill Farmers Markets, held in the Milton Fire Department parking lot, lets vendors park behind their food stand, says Mary Ann Warrington, market manager and president of the ladies auxiliary.

The tremendous effort involved in working a market stand is one reason why Susan Ryan of Good Earth Market & Organic Farm no longer is a vendor. “I did five a week in the season by myself, and it’s a lot of work,” says Ryan, who sold her Rehoboth-area retail location to her sister but still owns the farm and restaurant near Bethany.

However, the events gave the latter two enterprises the exposure required to attract customers. “If you can bring customers to you — and you’re not packing up and bringing your wares to people — it’s a much better scenario,” she says. “Farmers markets serve a great function in getting small businesses off the ground.”

The organizers also work hard. “We are all volunteers — there are no paid workers, no paid administration,” Warrington says. “Every dollar we get — minus [for] the paint we use to mark the spots —goes to the fire department auxiliary. It’s all for the benefit of the town.”

Many volunteers are more than willing to organize the Milford market, Pingue says. The challenge is getting volunteers to work at the market. The Riverwalk market has online sign-up, bolstered by phone calls to ensure sufficient staffing. 

Braving the pandemic

The lack of willing workers due to the pandemic led to the demise of the 10-year-old Milton Farmers Market. In response, the Broadkill Farmers Market picked up the baton. 

In early 2020, market managers became lobbyists when the state considered these gatherings “social” events and prohibited them from operating. By May of that year, the Delaware Farmers Market Coalition and the Department of Agriculture had overcome that obstacle by working out protocols, including capacity restrictions, one-way shopping and face masks, all monitored by market workers.

“We were able to follow all the rules and get it open,” Pingue says. “I wasn’t sure anybody would show up, and I was amazed — almost to tears — when I saw we had a huge line waiting to get into the market.”

She says that many people felt safer in the open air than they did at the grocery store. As a result, most markets saw sales soar. For instance, Dittmar Farms’ numbers were up 25 percent over 2019. And in 2021? “We doubled sales from 2020,” says Dittmar, who credits the influx of tourists.

 

A southern Delaware tradition

To be sure, tourists give coastal markets an advantage. “Southern Delaware farmers markets have become major attractions as more and more people are tuning in to clean, healthy eating, wanting to know more about where their food comes from and how it’s produced,” says Coleman, who posts information on the Visit Southern Delaware website. 

For residents, however, the farmers markets have become part of summer life. “We have a plan,” says Finestrauss. “On Friday afternoon, we walk into Milton for the Broadkill Farmers Market, and on Saturday morning, we know we’re getting up and riding our bikes to Lewes.”

The routine seldom changes. “Whoever comes to stay with us knows that’s what we’re doing,” Finestrauss says. “They can come and meet us — or meet us later — but that’s what we’re doing.