Winchester Farmers Market Opened Saturday

The kicked off its fourth season on Saturday, among rain showers, live music, enthusiastic shoppers, and plenty of local produce.

“It’s going pretty well for a rainy first day,” said Jackie Abramowski of Hanson’s Farm in Framingham. Matt Hanson, standing next to her, agreed. He said his family is in its fifth generation running the farm and now grows 170 varieties of fruits and vegetables. Their stand was full of tomato plants and other vegetables seedlings, plus some boxes of strawberries.

Across the row of tents was The Energized Body tent, where Kathy Forest of Winchester was buying a container of Sweet Potato Hummus. Forest has been coming to the Winchester Farmers Market since its first season, and had been anticipating the opening day this year. She didn’t find a fresh mozzarella vendor she’s been planning to visit, but ended up intrigued by the wares at the Energized Body.

“It’s nice because it’s new and old standards,” Forest said of the vendors.

Down the row of tents a bit was Jeff Williams, who has also been coming to the farmers market since the beginning. On Saturday, he was joined by his wife, his mother-in-law, his three young children, and the family dog. His sister-in-law was at the business tent of the day with her company, the Wooden Crate.

Williams said the rain hadn’t deterred his family. “We’re coming out before the soccer game later,” he said.

Other vendors included Foxboro Cheese Company, Globe Fish Company, KO Pies, The Wooden Crate, , , and Warner Farm. Sara Ferguson, Events Coordinator for the Winchester Farmers Market, said there will be a few more vendors as the season goes on. In addition, there is always live music.

“We have a band, and sometimes even two bands. They play for produce. We pay them in produce,” Ferguson said, smiling.

There are also weekly cooking demonstrations. This week’s demonstration was given by Denise Costello of the Energized Body, who gave a nutrition demonstration.

A new vendor to the farmers market this year was KO Catering & Pies, a South Boston company specializing in Australian meat pies. Owner Kara Butterfield said the small, hand-held meat pie is a type of street food, akin to hot dogs and hamburgers in the U.S. The native Australian opened KO Pies with her partners in October 2010, and has been surprised by how many customers are Australians and people with ties to Australia.

“It’s been a joy to reconnect with the community,” she said.

For a full schedule of the weekly events and rotating vendors, check the Winchester Farmers Market website.