Indoor Farmers’ Market Opens for Second Year

Area residents won't have to wait until summer to go to the farmers' market.

On Saturday, the Mamaroneck Indoor Farmers' Market opened for its second season. 

The market, which is located at the St. Thomas Episcopal Church on 268 W. Boston Post Road, will operate Saturdays until May 22 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. save Feb. 27.

The farmers' market is the result of a joint effort by the Mamaroneck Board of Trustees, the Mamaroneck Committee for the Environment, and Community Markets, the organization that runs most of the local farmers' markets in Westchester.

After the success of the market's first season last winter, all three groups are hoping to raise turnout by bringing in more vendors and holding the market weekly instead of biweekly.

Several local officials came to the market's opening, including village trustees Toni Ryan, Marianne Ybarra and John Hofstetter, and New York State Assemblyman George Latimer. Deputy Mayor Louis Santoro kicked off the festivities by cutting the ceremonial ribbon around 11 a.m.

Trustee Ryan, who served as the liaison between the trustees and the Environmental Committee, said the winter market started as a response to all the summer markets in Westchester. The idea had been in the works for three years.  Ultimately, as the committee persevered, the winter market "just came to be," she said.

Jake Hughto, a representative for Community Markets, said indoor farmers' markets are a fairly new concept and one of the main advantages of the market is its proximity to its vendors.

Most of the vendors operate within 100 miles of Mamaroneck, Hughto said. Ryan and Ilse Puerto-Rubin, the Environmental Committee's co-chair, said the market was more environmentally-friendly because vendors don't have to travel long distances to transport their food.

Susan Coyne, publicity manager for Community Markets, said more Westchester winter markets opened in this year in Katonah, Briarcliff Manor and Mt. Kisco. Each market also will host a different event each week, Coyne said.  

Mamaroneck's market featured a performance by Brooklyn-based jazz trio Little Triumph. Subsequent weeks will feature art workshops, cooking demonstrations and more.

The 12 vendors each brought something unique to the market, selling everything from meat to baked goods and pickles.

Thelma Kiernan of Grass Fed Beef, which sells high quality grass-fed organic beef, said she was very pleased with the turnout. Grass Fed Beef, a farm located in the town of Gardiner, was also a vendor at last year's market. Kiernan said her farm would be making an appearance at the winter market every two weeks.

Katie Bogdanffy of Elizaville's Feather Ridge Farm, which sells all natural, antibiotic and hormone-free poultry, eggs and milk , came to the market after previous success at Rye's farmers' market. Bogdanffy was pleased to see even better results after expanding into Mamaroneck.

With a wide array of vendors, Michael Otsuka of Scarsdale's Flourish Bakery said local shoppers should find something they like at the winter market.

 "[One can find] interesting things in obscure places," he said.