Cheverly to test farmer’s market this fall

Lal said the fall market should give local farmers a taste of Cheverly and generate more interest from county farmers by next spring, when she hopes to have the market open on Friday evenings. She said busy farmers who already participate in well-established area markets are often reluctant to sign up for more.

‘‘They [the farmers] have limited resources,” Lal said. ‘‘They want to make sure a market is worth their time and energy before they sign up because some of them have already committed to better-known markets like Takoma Park [Farmer’s Market], that’s been there for years.”

Lal is hoping a Cheverly Farmers Market gives residents a chance to walk to a central location, meet up with friends and buy produce closer to home instead of driving to the local supermarket or farther away to areas such as Upper Marlboro or Brandywine for locally grown produce.

Lal intends to officially open the market in spring 2008 in the Cheverly United Methodist Church parking lot, but is using Town Park on Oct. 6 because the Cheverly Town Council already insured that property. The church has requested that the town handle property and liability insurance before any business can begin.

She said Jug Bay Market Garden Farms of Upper Marlboro and Uptown Bakers of Hyattsville agreed to come to the first market. Jug Bay farmer Scott Hertzberg said there are about 10 or so farmers markets in the county, but county farmers are rarely seen because more and more are selling their farms due to countywide suburbanization. Farmers who do sell at those markets come from as far as Pennsylvania.

‘‘In addition to growing our own vegetables, I really want to support other farmers in the county,” Hertzberg said. ‘‘We wouldn’t do that unless it was Prince George’s County only.”

Hertzberg said his only concern for the fall date is that there is sometimes a lull between produce harvests in the summer and fall, and most farmers do not have their fall crops ready for sales. However, Hertzberg said they should have some lettuce, beans and turnips in season by October.

‘‘It’s going to be a little hard because it’s kind of in between seasons,” Hertzberg said. ‘‘A little early for the fall stuff. But I’m going to call around to other farmers and see what they have.”

Another possible draw to selling produce at the Cheverly Farmer’s Market is an end to the producers-only rule. At many larger markets such as Dupont Circle and Eastern Market in the District, only the farmers are allowed to sell their own produce.

Lal said eliminating this rule may attract more farmers who only have a few items to sell and would rather combine their produce with a neighboring farmer’s so both would not have attend at the same time.

‘‘I’m more concerned about the produce from the farm rather than the actual farmer attending,” Lal said.