One of our favorite things to do as a young(er) family in Southern California was to walk to our local farmers’ market on Sunday mornings.  While not as huge as the ones in Santa Monica or Los Angeles, the Claremont Farmers Market reflected some of what we loved best about our town.  It was small, but still carried the best selection of berries around, our favorite hummus & falafels, produce, plants, music and people.  We would see co-workers, neighbors, students and even doctors there.  It was community.

And that’s exactly what we felt when we arrived at the 32nd Street Farmers Market.  Locally called the Waverly Market, Don from Harmony Bakery said it best: “This is a community.”  He actually was the reason we ventured out in the first place.  I had gotten a lot of recommendations recently to visit the Harmony Bakery booth at the Waverly Market, and told that they had some of the best vegan and gluten free pastries around.  So this past Saturday we packed up the kids and headed out.

Now, in it’s 35th year the mission of the 32nd Street Farmers Market is, “to provide a vehicle for independent vendors to survive large agribusiness competition, while making available a variety of produce, meat, bread, and plant selections to an underserved city community. Our vendors provide an opportunity for farmers to sell their products directly to the public, and for the public to benefit from access to fresh food that they would not otherwise have available to them in the immediate area.”  I love it.

So of course the stars of the show are the food, the produce and the plants, all fresh and some unique.

And there are the local, and familiar favorites.  When I stopped to decide on some goodies to pick up from Harmony, I was enthusiastically told that “everything is good.”

There were also some familiar selections from the Baltimore Farmers Market on Sunday mornings.

Plenty of hot foods prepared on the spot!

And lots to take home.

But the real treasure of this market is the community.  It’s the people.