New Jersey’s farmers markets have a variety of origins, ranging from an old rodeo to the farmland of Estonia, but each is now a staple of their local communities.
Collingswood Farmers Market
In 2000, Pam Ciervo launched the Collingswood Farmers Market with just 12 participants. Over the past 24 years, it shifted from a group project by the Proud Neighbors of Collingswood to one of the Borough of Collingswood. It has grown to include vendors of meat, cheese, eggs, bread, flowers, coffee, and breakfast foods made with local ingredients.
On Saturdays between the first one in May and the last one before Thanksgiving, local community members can shop between 8 a.m. and noon and get to know their neighbors and the people behind their food.
The November dates, known as Handmade Holidays, feature local artisans, replacing some farmers who end their seasons slightly earlier, providing a perfect opportunity for early holiday shopping.
The market claims that when shopping there, “… you can be confident in the fact that you’re improving the quality of the foods you eat, preserving our environment and supporting your local economy.” The shoppers can get produce soon after it is harvested, guaranteeing better taste and quality for their families while supporting small family-owned farms: “You’re helping to keep farmers farming.”
Photo Courtesy Collingswood Friends of the Farmers Market
The Collingswood Farmers Market engages with the local community in various ways. For example, starting in 2023, it partnered with the Sustainable Collingswood Food Equity Committee to accept Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) program, providing locals greater access to fresh and nutritious foods.
Plus, a civic nonprofit, Friends of the Farmers Market, assists the operation in its efforts to support local family farms and improve the community’s quality of life.
Not only do volunteers staff the information and merchandise tent, but they also organize special events, including salsa-making contests and pie-baking contests.
This year, the Inaugural Blueberry Pie Baking Contest took place in July, followed by the return of the Peach Pie Baking Contest in August and the Apple Pie Baking Contest in October. Judges usually include business owners, chefs, farmers, and other volunteers. With awards for the best pie made using only that fruit, the best pie using that fruit and other creative ingredient combinations, and the best presentation, the winners earn Market Bucks and bragging rights!
Photo Courtesy Collingswood Friends of the Farmers Market
Supporting its vendors is essential to the market’s mission, so it has gone out of its way to get people to attend every week. For example, one rainy weekend last September, attendees had the opportunity to enter a “Rainy Day Giveaway” raffle to win a $25 gift certificate by tagging and posting a photo of their purchases or themselves at the market.
Meanwhile, the first market of this season was promoted with the Collingswood Farmers Market People’s Produce Parade. Participants donned outfits like fruit and vegetable costumes and marched with instruments like cowbells toward the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Environmental initiatives are also top of mind. The operation used to sell reusable produce bags made from recycled plastic water bottles for $1. After New Jersey banned single-use plastics in 2022, the market launched a bag share program, enabling shoppers to borrow a reusable bag if they forgot their own at home.
Photo Courtesy Collingswood Friends of the Farmers Market
Cowtown Farmers Market
Another operation, the Cowtown Farmers Market, has its history intertwined with a famous rodeo. Starting in 1927, Howard Harris Sr. and his son, Howard “Stoney” Harris, held a weekly livestock auction in Woodstown, New Jersey, and a rodeo yearly during the Salem County Fair.
Although operations ceased during World War II, Stoney’s son, Howard “Baldy” Harris, was ready to take over after he graduated from the University of Idaho and won the 1954 National Intercollegiate All-Around Rodeo Championship. Baldy’s son, Howard Grant Harris, was a 1-year-old when the rodeo relaunched on a weekly basis; by age 5 he was a competitor in the Junior Bull Riding competition. He went on to become a three-time Northeast Circuit Saddle Bronc Champion before he and his wife, Betsy, decided to buy the rodeo from his father in 1978.
Now run by one of Grant and Betsy’s daughters, Katy, and her husband, RJ Griscom, the Cowtown Rodeo is the oldest weekly running rodeo in the U.S., held in a 4,000-seat arena built in 1967.
The family has bred the bucking horses over the years, so the ones currently participating in the rodeo are the grandchildren of those from the 1900s. It operates from May through September.
Photo Courtesy Cowtown Farmers Market
Meanwhile, The Cowtown Farmers Market is open twice a week all year, on Tuesdays and Saturdays between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. More than 400 vendors participate, located in outdoor and indoor heated facilities.
Even though the livestock auction closed in 2007, a flea market runs alongside the farmers marketplace. In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables, shoppers can find clothing, jewelry and beauty products, electronics, tools, home goods, toys, pet supplies, and more. There is even a new Mega Deal Zone for the best finds. That also makes it a great place for holiday and back-to-school shopping.
Photo Courtesy Cowtown Farmers Market
The market is also associated with the Ranch Hope Thrift Shop, which is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays from 7:30 a.m. until 3:30 p.m. Ranch Hope aims to address the onslaught of abuse, crime, violence, and facing local youth through “Christ-centered love and compassion.” The thrift shop is known for its work with local nonprofits to help at-risk youth.
Denville Farmers Market
The Denville Farmers Market traces its origins to Estonia, where Liisi Lascarro, founder and manager, grew up. Her parents turned their land into a farm, which they used to feed their five children and often their friends and neighbors while simultaneously working non-farming jobs.
At a young age, Lascarro learned not only to appreciate the hard work done by farmers but also the values of healthy food and community. In college, Lascarro worked for Pickle Licious at farmers markets over her summers, which helped her learn about their similarities and differences.
She never lost her love of gathering her family, friends, and neighbors around healthy food, so she started the marketplace in Denville when she moved there with her husband in 2007, in addition to raising three children and working a full-time job at Novartis until this year.
The presence of Union Hill Farms in the town was a particular source of inspiration. Founded in 1986 by Jeff O’Hara, it is the oldest continuously run farm in Morris County, New Jersey.
O’Hara’s grandfather once farmed 140 acres, which has since been turned into several homes, but Jeff was inspired to start his farm after college, which now features about 18 acres of its main crop, sweet corn. It went on to be one of the original vendors at the Denville Farmers Market, which it now attends every week.
Photo Courtesy Union Hill Farms
“It is a great privilege to have built the farmers market into a significant social meeting place for the community; it is not only a venue for fresh food shopping, but to have a chance to socialize with friends, neighbors, and co-worker[s],” Lascarro reflected upon receiving the 2019 Denville Good Scout Award in a blog post on the market’s website. “Sometimes it feels as if time slows down at the market when you spend time outside, thinking of the weekly fresh menu and shopping list while catching up with vendors and friends at the market.”
Now, 15 years in, the operation has accumulated more than 25 vendors, spanning local farms, food vendors, and producers of artisan products, and about 3,000 visitors every Sunday.
Plus, it brings a sense of connection and community to the area practically all year round, operating from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m. during the regular season between May and November and from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m. during the winter season between December and April.
The winter features greens grown organically by Chickadee Creek Farm and hydroponically by Sweetleaf Farm, plus cheeses from Bobolink Dairy and Bakehouse, eggs and meat from R&M Farms, and honey from HarBee Beekeeping, so, as Lascarro told the Denville Food Guide, even though “it is a challenging task to provide the locally grown produce during New Jersey winter,” and “the winter market has a lot to offer for foodies and locavores.”
Photo Courtesy Denville Farmers Market
The market is also focused on the local environment, encouraging guests to bring their own bags to reduce packaging waste and featuring sustainable vendors. Sustainable Sunday is held in June in collaboration with the Denville Township School District Green Teams. It features student displays and interactive activities meant to teach community members about gardening, planting, and even hydroponics.
The market is no stranger to fundraisers and other community-focused activities, including the Denville Beautification Committee featuring photos with “Santa Paws” or Denville Sunrise Rotary selling rubber ducks ahead of the Great Denville Duck Race.
Photo Courtesy Denville Farmers Market
