Local asparagus, blueberry bread, and community ties sustain NCCo farmers markets

There once was a time when it was a pretty tricky thing to get your hands on a bunch of Delaware-grown asparagus, or a carton of just-picked strawberries, or a loaf of Beth Esrey’s scrumptious blueberry bread.

Nowadays, chances are good you can get them all right down the street, every week this summer.

New Castle County’s farmers markets are bringing locally sourced treasures within easy reach for thousands of Delaware residents, thanks to a thriving network of farmers, entrepreneurs and faithful customers stretching from Middletown to Claymont and beyond.

For everyone involved, the mutual benefits are clear: Fledgling businesses from miles away can connect to the suburban customers they need to thrive. The customers themselves get connected to fresher, healthier food. And communities suddenly gain a place where neighborly connections can flourish, face to face, without a computer or cell phone in sight.

It’s easy to see those connections grow at the outdoor markets that sprout each week in Bellevue, Pike Creek, Glasgow and Middletown: At Bellevue, vendor Tyler Reed has brought asparagus from downstate, along with cheddar from a nearby Maryland dairy. Over at Carousel Park in Pike Creek, Neil Vosters’ table is filled with health and beauty products, all fortified with honey and wax from his busy-busy bees in Chesapeake City, Maryland.

“Farmers markets are a happy place for me,” said Vosters, who has manned his Randalia Bee Hives stand for more than a decade. “I get personal contact with customers, and that’s a great way to build more business.”

The same dynamic is boosting business for Reed, who launched Reed’s Produce stand last season, and now sets up each week at Glasgow Park and Bellevue.

“It kind of all happened at once,” he said. “I built up a customer base, and now I have people who come to see me every week.”

Younger vendors like Reed are encouraged by stories like Beth Esrey’s. She started Beth’s Homemade Goods almost 10 years ago at the now-closed Rockwood Museum farmers market. Today, she sells her cookies and breads at three New Castle County markets (Glasgow, Middletown and Bellevue), and at Filasky’s Produce in Middletown, where her pumpkin donuts are the stuff of local legend.

No matter where they go, vendors know they can rely on fellow sellers to back them up when complications arise. They become a family of sorts, leaning on each another, heading out to dinner together, and even gaining inspiration from one another.

That’s just how Stephanie Cuff enhanced the lineup of pound cakes and peach cobblers at her Crowned Cakes business: Her baked goods are now made with eggs from a neighboring produce vendor, which also supplies the fruit she uses in her new lineup of juices.

“It’s like its own community,” said Donna Francisco, coordinator of New Castle County’s farmers markets. “We always have each other’s back, no matter what.”

Stitching these various strands together is no small feat: There are food trucks to enlist, new vendors to on-board, and summer events to organize. (The next, set for Aug. 7-9, celebrates National Farmers Market Week.)

Through the season, the county works to connect needy citizens to market resources: Seniors are eligible for $50 vouchers through a USDA program, and all markets gladly accept SNAP/EBT payments. At Bellevue, the University of Delaware’s Cooperative Extension has nutrition experts on hand to show customers what they can cook up with their market haul.

“Donna is wonderful, because she knows she has to create those connections between everyone – the producers, the vendors and the customers,” said Carey Corbin, community services coordinator for the county. “She always has such great ideas, but she’s not just an idea person – she can have the idea and then she can pull it off. She’s just exceptional at that.”

Vendors say they’re fueled by the energy Francisco helps sustain. Many of them also sell their products online, but know it can’t compare to those sunny summer days when they can greet customers face to face.

Vendor Gavin Rosier of Barking Dog Farm in Kennett Square had considered leaning into CSA sales when he started, but now has no regrets about embracing farmers markets instead.

“Here, you get the interaction with the customer, it’s on a more personal level,” he said. “Farmers markets are the perfect places for connections.”