By Daniel Curtin
Hometown Weekly Reporter
Last Thursday on the lawn in front of the First Parish building in Medfield town center, different stands sold everything from quilted blankets and honey to fresh fruits and vegetables. Families and members of the community ambled through the grassy clearing, enjoying the warm summer day and talking with the local farmers and vendors.
It has been a familiar scene every Thursday this summer at the Medfield Farmers’ Market. The market is held every summer Thursday through October 4, between 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Susan Stromgren is the manager of the Farmers’ Market and had brought her homemade Irish soda bread and lemon tarts for the First Parish Bake Sale table. This is Stromgren’s third year managing the market.
“It’s a small market,” she said, “but it is a fun market, and I think the community really enjoys having it here.”
“We have just recently moved into town,” said Kimberly Hartvigsen, who was at the Farmers’ Market to sell her quilts and other textile arts. “It’s nice to get to talk to people and to kind of get a feel for the town itself.”
Hartvigsen, whose hand-crafted work is a perfect example of the fare available at the market, has been quilting since she was a small girl and comes from a long line of quilters. Depending on the size and the design, it can take anywhere from ten to thirty hours to complete certain quilts. Hartvigsen was in Germany when her husband was stationed there during his time in the military, and she would help pass the time by quilting. One brightly-patterned quilt, titled “Here Comes The Sun,” was inspired during the dark Bavarian winter.
“I actually think it is great that we can eat local food and fresh food and not have to buy it at the grocery store,” said Julie Ridlon, who was out shopping at the Farmers’ Market and bought some tomatoes, scallions and peaches. “Hopefully, we are supporting the farmers and giving our bodies good healthy food.”
For her part, Susan Stromgren appreciates the bonds that are forged between the community and different vendors at the market.
“This is a labor of love, really,” she said. “We don’t make any money on this, and it is just something that feels great. People obviously love it and the vendors get to know each other and they have a good time, too.”
