SOMERS POINT — The Somers Point Farmers Market has returned to the grounds of Somers Mansion, where multiple vendors selling everything from gourmet foods to jewelry and pretzels to produce gather each week among the shade trees.
The market is held from 8 a.m. to noon Saturdays through early September on the grounds of the mansion, where Shore Road meets MacArthur Boulevard and the Route 52 causeway to Ocean City.
Built between 1720 and 1726, the mansion contains many objects of local historical interest, including a collection of local quilts and woven coverlets and many early samplers. It is open for free tours during the market.
On July 11, Simon Matthews was selling sauces, jams and jellies, pickled vegetables, flavored vinegars and pestos procured from farms in New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Next door, Mia Swift was working the booth for The Potato Homestead.
Will Boyer, who helps organize the market, was with his wife, Samantha, and daughter Carly Appel at the Twisted Lemonade Beverage Co.
Lin Conover of Rio Grande was selling fungi from her Wood Song Mushrooms booth.
Not only is the site spacious and accessible with plenty of parking, but it is grassy and shaded and includes a fantastic view of Great Egg Harbor Bay, as well as a cool sea breeze.
The site lets the organizers accommodate vendors with irregular setups rather than the standard 10×10 in a hot parking lot.
Shoppers can expect to find produce, prepared foods, treats (for humans and pets) and other goods.
Another really neat thing about the site is its historic nature. The home is the oldest in Atlantic County and the heritage garden is growing in the same soil where the Somers family raised their produce.
Vendor fees go straight to the nonprofit Patriots for Somers Mansion and thus are tax-deductible. The group uses the funds to restore and maintain the mansion, which is owned by the New Jersey Park Service.
There is plenty of parking in a lot off MacArthur Boulevard below the mansion, a handicapped-accessible bathroom on site and access via foot or bike from the city bike path.
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
