(Clockwise from top) Holly Hess’s nephew, Angus, models a cap she sells at her booth. Jenna Perette of Scituate sells cupcakes. Norwell resident Ralph Young makes a sale.
Farmers’ market draws ever more to Scituate
(Clockwise from top) Holly Hess’s nephew, Angus, models a cap she sells at her booth. Jenna Perette of Scituate sells cupcakes. Norwell resident Ralph Young makes a sale.
SCITUATE — Some come to a farmers’ market for fresh local produce, and others come to find unique artisan treasures. But Wendell Davis, a Weymouth resident who runs a small business called Baking with Joy with his wife, Linda, says it’s the people that draw the crowds.
“People come to markets to meet their neighbors,’’ said Wells, 63, standing by his table covered with zucchini bread, banana bread, and other items at the farmers’ market in North Scituate.
And it would seem that more and more are coming to the Scituate market. Started late last summer with just a few vendors, nearly 20 small business owners now set up shop in the parking lot across from the commuter rail station every Wednesday from 3 to 7 p.m.
While still not even half the size of neighboring Hingham’s market, locals say Scituate’s market is starting to get some buzz. Four more vendors — including a juice vendor, an artist who sells solar plate etchings, a Mediterranean restaurant, and a bakery — were approved this month by the Board of Selectmen.
“It’s getting bigger and bigger,’’ said Jenna Perette, 25, who runs Jenna Cakes and sold almost 10 dozen cupcakes on a recent Wednesday. “I think it’s basically word-of-mouth,’’ she said.
The Scituate market is also a growing Facebook presence, with 219 fans. (Hingham’s farmers’ market has 49.)
Vendors sell items ranging from lobsters to baby bonnets and say they like the family-friendly atmosphere that Scituate’s smaller market has to offer. They also say they like the nearby playground.
“The older kids kind of look out for the younger kids,’’ said Jessi Lane, 31, who runs Lane’s Lobsters with her husband, Mike. Jessi was one of the first vendors at the market last year and helped recruit small business owners to the site.
Allison Guinan, 38, recently visited the market for the first time. Holding her 1-year-old Erin and keeping an eye on son Tommy, 3, the Scituate mom said she had driven by the market before and wanted to see what it was all about.
“I was hoping for some fresh corn, and I found it,’’ she said as her son picked through produce.
Greta MacNeil, 27, came to visit her sister, Holly Hess, 32, who sells a variety of baby accessories that she designs and sews herself.
“I love all the fresh produce and breads,’’ said MacNeil, watching her sister put pint-sized plaid scally caps on her 11-month-old son, Angus.
At the next booth, Norwell resident Ralph Young, 69, was selling hydrangeas and berries with his lifelong buddy, Philip Edwards, also 69. They went to high school together and are both retired — Young from his family’s boatyard, Edwards from social work. They say selling their items at the market isn’t particularly lucrative, but that’s OK by them.
“The people make it fun,’’ Young said.
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