Fairfield Farmers Market enjoying good indoor attendance

FAIRFIELD — The Fairfield Farmers Market has enjoyed great attendance during its first few weeks of meeting at its new winter home in the former Presbyterian Church building (now known as Golden Magnolia Sanctuary).

The market meets indoors from November through April, and for years, the vendors congregated in the Fairfield Community Center (formerly called Fairfield Senior Citizen Center). That changed in the fall of 2020 when the indoor market migrated to the Breadtopia building on North Fourth Street, and with another home this year, that makes three homes in three years for the market.

The vendors set up shop in the basement of the former church every Saturday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Vendors said they have been pleased with the attendance at the winter markets thus far. Pathu Nayagar and her husband Vanan own Minolli’s Organics, and set up a booth Saturday where they sold vegetable curry, spinach squares and their famous sourdough breads. Pathu said the basement of Golden Magnolia Sanctuary is smaller than where the vendors used to meet in the Breadtopia building, but she likes the new space and the buzz it creates.

That sentiment was echoed by Fairfield resident Ayako Huang, a regular attendee to the markets.

“With the small space, the market feels busier,” Huang said. “With a big space, the warmth isn’t there.”

Huang said she attends most of the summer farmers markets beginning in July, and several of the winter markets, too.

“Sometimes I come not to buy anything but to watch kids play and socialize,” she said.

Huang said she likes supporting local food producers, enjoying fresh goods and feeling the sense of community and belonging that the market provides.

“Even in winter, I can feel the warmth of the people,” she said.

Pathu said vendors realize that attendance, and sales, drop off during the winter months because people don’t want to leave their homes as much. Nevertheless, she was surprised at the large crowd at Saturday’s market. In addition to selling at the weekly farmers markets, Minolli’s Organics sells their breads at Everybody’s Whole Foods.

Vendor Livia Horvath said these first three Saturdays of November have all had good turnouts, a pleasant surprise to her. She said the attendance at the summer markets was great this year, and is glad to see the community’s support continue into the winter.

Horvath set up a booth to sell her microgreens, baby plants a little older than sprouts. The plants are small but nutrient dense, and a good as a garnish on salads and sandwiches. Some of Horvath’s microgreens include sunflowers, radishes, kale, broccoli and arugula.

Though temperatures have plunged below freezing in recent weeks, vendor Steve McLaskey was able to save his vegetables from the cold. McLaskey is part of the regenerative agricultural program at Maharishi International University, where he is also a faculty member.

The university runs an unheated greenhouse, though McLaskey said only the tomatoes at his booth were from the greenhouse. Everything else, from the bok choy to the spinach, lettuce, chard and carrots, was grown in an outdoor garden. McLaskey said he put a plastic covering over the hoops surrounding each vegetable, and that kept them from dying.

“It’s nice to see a full house today,” McLaskey said of Saturday’s attendance. “There are a lot of vendors, and people are continuing to get fresh produce and crafts.”