Windham farmers market grows momentum

Vendor Bob Almstrom, of Raymond, said he wished he’d brought more lettuce, spinach and kale to last weekend’s opening day of the Lakes Region Farmers Market in Windham.

“We sold right out of vegetables in 20 minutes,” he said. Crowds were estimated at around 350, about twice as much as the organizers anticipated.

Only six vendors were up and running last Saturday morning, but organizer Bob Wehmeyer said he hopes to have five times that in the future. The market opened with a lot of garden plants and vegetables and Wehmeyer said it will branch out into areas like honey, homemade granola, hosta and grass-fed beef.

The DiMauro family from New Gloucester set up shop selling a variety of crafts, from breads and biscotti to homemade glycerin soap under the name, “the Farmer’s 8 Daughters.”

“Windham needs a farmers market,” said Bruce Fournier of Meadowsweet Farm in Denmark. He and his wife, Donna, were handing out samples of their lamb products to generate interest.

“People want to support local farms,” said Donna Fournier. She said she and Bruce will have to be apart on Saturdays now, with one selling at the Bridgton farmers market that is open at the same time.

“A lot of people have been saying, ‘I’m so glad you’re here. This is long overdue,'” she said.

“We like to support the local people,” said Dan Downer of Sposedo Road in Windham at the farmers market. He said he and his wife Pat saw a banner on Route 302 and decided to stop by.

“We’re pretty healthy eaters, and we like that everything is grown locally and naturally,” he said.

Our society has gotten to the point where people don’t know their neighbors,” Pat Downer said. She said that farmers markets give towns a place where the community can come together.

“I hate driving to Portland in the summer,” said Penny Worster of Nash Road in Windham. She said she likes having a farmers market that’s closer to her home.

The Windham farmers market is located in the parking lot of the Manchester Elementary School across the street from the fire department. It is open every Saturday until October 13 from 8 a.m. to noon.

Farmersmarket1-3: Vendor and organizer Allen Pollock explains how to care for perennial plants to customers in the Manchester School parking lot at the first day of the Windham farmers market.Farmersmarket1-3: Vendor and organizer Allen Pollock explains how to care for perennial plants to customers in the Manchester School parking lot at the first day of the Windham farmers market.Farmersmarket1-3: Vendor and organizer Allen Pollock explains how to care for perennial plants to customers in the Manchester School parking lot at the first day of the Windham farmers market.Farmersmarket4: From left: Vendors and organizers Bob Wehmeyer and Allen Pollock discuss growing plants at the Windham farmers market.Farmersmarket5-6: Nicole DiMauro slices off a hunk of glycerine soap for a customer at the Windham farmers market. She, her mother and seven female siblings from New Gloucester call their homemade foods and home products company the Farmer’s 8 Daughters.Farmersmarket5-6: Nicole DiMauro slices off a hunk of glycerin soap for a customer at the Windham farmers market. She, her mother and seven female siblings from New Gloucester call their homemade foods and home products company the Farmer’s 8 Daughters.Farmersmarket7: Lynn Cote, of Torrington, CT, tries a piece of lamb offered by Donna Fournier of Meadowsweet Farm in Denmark. Cote said she was in town for Mother’s Day and was ecstatic that Windham was getting a farmers market.