King Farm Farmers Market Proves Popular

The King Farm Farmers Market made its debut last week, bringing food and produce from farmers around the region together vendors and customers from around the area.

The market opened on May 25 at Four Irvington Centre and Saturday at .

Vendors include Atwaters, Pleitez Produce, French Fry Fusion and Canela Bakery.

Marni Dacy, farm administrator of King Farm Farmers Market, said that the first week went "Awesome. Really, really great. We did very well. In fact, one of our vendors, Astrid Pleitez of Pleitez Produce, said this was the best turnout she'd ever been a part of."

Pleitez said that roughly three times as many people came to the Saturday opening as the Wednesday opening.

“We started by 9 and by 10:30, my 80 pounds [of tomatoes] were gone,” Pleitez said.

Dacy said around 300 people on both Wednesday and Saturday participated in opening week raffle, in which the winners received gift certificates to various King Farm businesses. The raffle was the first of several that the market will hold during the season.

Dina Jackson of French Fry Fusion, which sells freshly-cut fries and freshly-squeezed lemonade, said she was impressed by the turnout.

“It’s been great and we thought, ‘Who’s going to come all of this way?’” said Dina Jackson of French Fry Fusion. “But these guys are hikers!”

The market attracted customers from King Farm as well as people who live and work in Bethesda, Frederick, Silver Spring and elsewhere. Bonnie Xu, who lives in walking distance from Saturday's market at the park on Piccard Drive, said she heard about the market from signs posted in her neighborhood.

“I just wanted to see what the local farmers had to offer,” she said. “I’ve always liked fresh veggies.”

Eric Wester, who works in King Farm, ate French fries he had purchased from the French Fry Fusion stand.

"Farmers markets are always good for walking around, the sights, seeing what the community has to offer,” he said. “I didn’t have breakfast, so it’s a good idea to have stuff ready to eat.”

The market also attracted people who are no strangers to farmers markets, such as Becky and Dan Zurawski, who came with their children, Sascha and Rachel.

“We have a guide to farmers markets and we just like to try a new one every week,” Becky said. “Sometimes they’re one tent, sometimes they’re really big.”

Dan said the appeal for him was finding fresh food and vegetables for the weekend.

“Fresh food is better than processed food,” he said. "We have kids, so it’s better to feed them the good stuff."

Sascha, 4, said she liked the broccoli, while Rachel, 2, said she liked the nearby playground.

For Canela Bakery, the market serves as a way to attract new customers.

“We’ve found the farmers market is a very efficient way to promote,” said Rosario Gamboa, who co-owns the bakery with her husband, Rosendo. “They’ll drive from Olney to our store because they met us at the market.”

The market runs through October 29.