Ridgefield Farmers Market: Opening Day, Founding Sponsors, and Connecticut Grown
Ridgefield Farmers Market is putting down roots on the Jesse Lee Church Commons and will open to the public this Saturday, July 15 from 10 am to 2 pm and every other Saturday through October 22, 2023.
Corrin Arasa moved to Ridgefield two years ago and was taken aback by the fact that our community was without a Farmers Market. Flanked The Hickories and Henny Penny Farm, it seemed natural that Ridgefield be home to a robust Market. “People here care about their local farms, healthy food and fresh ingredients,” says Arasa.
Arasa planted the seeds when she called Jesse Lee Church. “Jesse Lee Church has always been committed to serving our community and this farmers market offers one more way to do that. We hope it will be a place where people will enjoy coming to gather, shop and connect,” explains Jeff Vreeland, one of the Church Trustees.
Here, we sit down with Arasa to talk about her Farmers Market dreams, farm-fresh vendors, and two local businesses that brought Ridgefield Farmers' Market to life. "There would be no Market without them," Arasa says.
Saturday is the big day! What can Farmers Market attendees expect?
Everyone is so excited for opening weekend! Each of our 8 markets will have something different to see, do or taste. We hope people will turn up, chat with friends and vendors, and hang out for a while. We’ll have picnic blankets so you can grab a bite and listen to some music on the lawn. The kids will be making kindness rocks this week to put around town, next market will be hula hoop lessons. We are hoping to build a community around this and have it be an event that everyone looks forward to each summer. We have so much we want to do, and so many fun things to try at the market, so you’ll see it evolve each week and hopefully grow into something really special over the next few years.
Tell me about the support Ridgefield Farmers’ Market received from businesses in the community.
This amazing community has been so incredibly supportive. We couldn’t do this without the support of our Founding Sponsors, Fairfield County Bank and Karla Murtaugh Homes who have generously agreed to underwrite the Market. There would be no market without them. They are such strong advocates for what we are doing here and we are really lucky to have the support of these two highly regarded Ridgefield businesses.
Can you tell me a bit about the vendors who will be participating?
We’ve curated a really nice group of vendors. We are a "producers market" which means each of our vendors grow or make the goods you’ll find at the market.
For opening day we’re so happy to have our two local farms, Henny Penny and The Hickories.
We also have Sunset Farm bringing a full spread of fruit and veggies each week. We’ll have flowers from Wild Iris- a new flower farm in Ridgefield.
Then we have Cloudy Lane Bakery who makes unbelievably delicious treats and... they are dairy and gluten-free (I swear you wouldn’t know it!) Try the new Raspberry Lime Donut!
We’ll have Backyard Pizza making pies onsite! if you get there early opt for the bacon egg and cheese breakfast pizza using fresh eggs from The Hickories.
Ideal Fish has the cleanest freshest fish around. And, don’t leave without grabbing the Branzino Spread - fair warning it’s kind of addictive.
Badass Bagels has a serious cult following and will be there. If you haven’t tried them you must, but get to them early, they will likely sell out.
We’ll have fresh juice, fresh salsa, custom pet food, freshly roasted coffee, and some other really fun and yummy treats.
All of our vendors were chosen because they grow locally or use locally grown ingredients, and they produce their own high-quality products. We’ve tasted their products, visited their farms, and feel really excited to have such a group of hardworking small businesses represented.
Learn more => ridgefieldfarmersmarket and on Instagram @ridgefieldfarmersmarket
What to get involved?
1) Become a member or sponsor: Your financial support helps cover costs to keep the market alive and thriving.
2) Volunteer: It takes a village, and so we are calling for active volunteers to help out each week and throughout the year.
3) Become a vendor: We are curating a fantastic selection of vendors, we’d love to see what you have to offer!
Photo shows (l to r) Corrin Arasa (with kale hat), Corrin's husband Casey and daughter and Kaia, Leah Schmiedel and daughters Sloane and Margot.