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BRONXVILLE, N.Y. Women walked to their cars carrying overflowing tote bags filled with heaping bunches of leafy greens as 21 vendors gathered to share their goods with residents at the 11th annual Bronxville Farmers Market.
A few drops of rain Saturday did not deter the community from coming out to purchase locally grown produce, meats, dairy, baked treats, milk and wine all indigenous to the Hudson Valley.
Maurizia Riso, of Tarrytown's Maura and Nuccia, said she loves introducing her cakes, pies and tarts to residents while chatting with customers and offering samples of her low-sugar baked goods.
"I like coming here to meet the new people and especially to introduce our product from Tuscany," said Riso, who is from Milan, Italy. "The sweet is coming from the fruits. Here [in America], they make pies very sweet. We make it all natural and use fresh butter and use other ingredients from the farmers markets."
Anna Upston, co-founder of the hand-spun yarn company Maupston Design Studio, stood behind bunches of colorful yarn that "feel like butter," she said. Upston, who has been traveling from Riverdale to participate in the Bronxville Farmers Market since 2008, said she enjoys the market's community feel.
"Bronxville has been a very wonderful market for me," she said. "It is a really well-managed market, and the vendors are some of the nicest people I've ever met. It's a really good feeling around here. It has been a really lovely place to sell my yarns."
Upston uses fibers and dye artists from New York, which "makes it more intimate and that much more individual," she said.
"It has been good for my business because I'm able to differentiate from yarn stores where they're buying nameless quantities of wool from nameless sources," she continued. "And I'm able to make my stuff that much more unique."
The few rain drops did not bother the vendors, who were shielded under white tents. The cloudy weather is actually better for the produce, said market manager Mary Liz Mulligan. If the sun is out, she said, the vendors have to water their inventory, weighing the kale bunches and lettuce leaves down.
"They do that in supermarkets," Mulligan said. "And you pay by the pound, so you don't want to be paying for the water. This is actually perfect weather for the market."
Swiss chard, zucchini, basil and parsley filled the table manned by Allan Grosso. Alongside Ed Shepard, owner of the organic-based Shireforge Farm from Warwick, Grosso has enjoyed his time at the market the past several years.
"I love the Bronxville Farmers Market," Grosso said. "There are a lot of nice people. We have a lot of regular customers that come back every year, every week. And it's nice to see the people over the years."
The Bronxville Farmers Market will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday until Nov. 17. It is located on Paxton Avenue, nestled between Lawrence Hospital and the Bronx River Parkway. For more information, visit the Bronxville Chamber of Commerce's website.
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