Hopkins Hosts the Latest in a Long Line of County Farmers Markets

Montgomery County's newest farmers market opened on Wednesday in a parking lot of the  in Rockville.

At workplaces and other central locations, the demand for farm fresh local food is being met in Montgomery County by a growing number of farmers markets.

A Rockville biotech company recently approached organizers about bringing a market to their employees, said Gigi Goin, manager for the Hopkins market and its sister, the Briggs Chaney-Greencastle Farmers' and Artisans' Market in Silver Spring.

“Permission from the landlord for use of the parking lot didn’t come through there and I immediately emailed Hopkins," Goin said. Within a week, the Shady Grove Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market was ready to open at Hopkins.

“We coordinated this market with more than JHU MCC employees in mind,” Robin Ferrier, spokeswoman for Johns Hopkins University Montgomery County Campus, wrote an email. “We see the farmers market as serving employees of the entire and the local neighborhoods as well."

There are 21 farmers markets in the county, nearly twice as many as in 2008, according to the county's Department of Economic Development.

There also are numerous farm stands around the county. Good Life Farm in Darnestown has opened its stand for the season. The Potomac Farmers Market has a stand beside .

With so many markets and stands, it might seem that there wouldn't be enough customers to go around, but "it doesn’t seem to cause a problem,” said Mary Nichols, a spokeswoman with the Agricultural Services Division of the economic development department. "People go to a place that’s convenient to them. Also, if they like vendors at a market they will frequent the market where they like the vendors, even if it is less convenient.”

Several county farmers markets are open mid-week with some open in the late afternoon or evening. “There’s an enormous interest in famers markets," Nichols said. "There always has been, but it’s increased enormously.”  

The market at Johns Hopkins is part of a new trend, Nichols said.

“We’re seeing more interest in opening at work places," she said. "Some of the applicants have not been able to get approval this year but are working to have it later this summer or next year."

Open rain or shine from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Wednesday, the Shady Grove Farmers’ and Artisans’ Market runs through Nov. 16 in the parking lot at 9601 Medical Center Drive. Enter on Broschart Road.

The market offers a range of produce, hormone-free meats and crafts by a variety of artisans and has plenty of free parking.