Farmers’ Market Brings Together Food And Food Lovers

By Kendra Bobowick

A sunny day in late July deepened the yellow hues at Cameron Gerrity’s lemonade stand Tuesday where she made fresh drinks for customers.

Sliced wedges floated in a sweetened, icy mix next to a jug of sun tea.

Alison Satran of Sandy Hook shopped for fresh, farm-grown garlic brought in to the Sandy Hook Organic Farmers’ Market in Fairfield Hills from Redding’s Warrups Farm. Working the stand and helping Ms Satran was Lincoln Hill, separating dried stalks and cleaning off the bulb that will end up in sauces, on breads, and in mingled aromas as recipes simmer. Preparing more garlic stalks for sale was Jacqueline DeWitt.

Resident and former state representative Julia Wasserman with guest Musa Lubega sampled pies for sale, which Mark Nicyper offered by the spoonful. He was running the table filled with baked goods form Ridgefield’s Whistle Stop Bakery.

Across the row where the market now sets up in Fairfield Hills was Rose Garbien, selling soaps, cream, herbs, and other natural products from Bittersweet Ridge in Roxbury. Nearby, resident Melanie Drohan, a health coach, purchased summer squash from the Waddingfield Farm table.

Her favorite part of the market? “It’s all from here. The farmers’ markets are healthy!” she said.

Seventeen-year-old Hallie Meyer, an intern with the farm this summer, bagged Ms Drohan’s purchases. Hallie likes “seeing what happens on a farm,” and believes locally grown food tastes better and is “better food for you.”

Local artisan Michael Agius of Works in Connecticut Wood, also sold his handmade pieces of both art and function during the market. He works with yew, black walnut, birch, apple, and other woods.