The Greenbelt Farmers Market opens Mother’s Day, May 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the parking lot by the Aquatic & Fitness Center and next to the New Deal Café. The usual last-minute rush is on as organizers prepare the site, corral all the vendors and satisfy county permit requirements and fire regulations. The market runs every Sunday but Labor Day weekend and ends the weekend before Thanksgiving, with a separate Holiday Market that coincides with Greenbelt’s Festival of Lights in early December.
Market Match is back with a vengeance. Previous matches for SNAP (the USDA’s program to support food security, once called food stamps) were limited to $10. This year, however, the Maryland Market Money program will match market spending dollar for dollar with no upper limit. A SNAP patron purchasing $40 of eligible market goods gets an additional $40 to spend on qualified market items.
This year brings back familiar faces and some new ones. Those who know highly-organized Nelson (who oversaw the very shipshape Pleitez operation) will find him back leading Fajardo’s Produce Farm, his own new veggie venture. With 31 vendors (some weekly, some every-other-week and some monthly), each week’s lineup offers wide variety. With King Mushrooms, Pop-up Patisserie and Elk Run Vineyards, one could even fantasize having been transported to Paris. Vendor schedules and offerings are described on the market website at Greenbeltfarmersmarket.org.
All vendors are local producers and either grow or make their products. Sales are limited to consumables – used in or on the body, like food and soap. Vendors must be based within Maryland or otherwise within 100 miles of Greenbelt – allowing products from areas in Pennsylvania, Delaware and Virginia, though some hail from much closer to home.
New this year (after a successful debut at the Holiday Market last year) is Strib’ble Treats, the sweet-tooth brainchild of local Greenbelt resident and activist LaWann Stribling. Greenbelt is also the base for newbie vendor Night Owl Vegan, producer of organic plant-based meals. Nearby College Park market veterans Roy & RT’s Kitchen & Garden return with their delicious specialties from Indonesia. New to the market this year and from not too far away are Little Boy Bakery from Elkridge and Surin Aromas of Laurel with aromatherapy-related products.
Many other long-familiar faces are also returning. Barnola, Ferguson Family Farm, Glade Link Farms, Jack Creek Plants, Patrick Hochmuth Farm, El Piquin, Simple Pleasures Ice, Martha’s Jams, Mystic Water Soap, Shlagel Farms, Stone Hearth Bakery, Three Springs Fruit Farm, Woodland Harvest Farm, Two Oceans/Carriage House Farms and Zeke’s Coffee are back; some were at the first market in 2008. Relative newcomers returning are Metro Microgreens, Jubilee Farms Fermentations, Mel’s Munchies, St. Michael’s Oysters and Tag Team Kitchen.
Market stall spacing is back to normal, but locations in the market may have changed to satisfy permit requirements. Anybody seeking an old favorite can ask for help from Market Master Frances Ippoliti – back for her fourth year at the helm. Ippoliti keeps a watchful eye on the market and its vendors, while welcoming visitors with grace and warmth. One reason vendors give for returning to Greenbelt year after year is the quality of the market’s organization, with Ippoliti serving as its on-site and visible presence.
This is the third market of the pandemic. 2020 was marked by the uncertainties of the first few months of Covid-19 and saw a very spaced-out layout enveloped in tape, orange fencing and with restrictions on entry and occupancy. Last year was less restrictive and this year the county eased restrictions on eating and drinking at the market so visitors will be able to enjoy their treats on the spot. Many vendors will still be using contactless payment methods but the wearing of masks is by individual preference.
