WESTFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – The sounds of the Caribbean emanated from a percussionist playing steel drums filling the air and setting the mood for Thursday night’s Farmers Market in Westfield.
Close to 20 area small farmers had set up open-air booths to sell their produce: lettuce, cabbage, kale, corn, string beans, peas and squash. The produce vendors erected temporary canopies in the lot next to the Episcopal Church of the Atonement on Court Street.
The same drought that’s been turning lawns brown all across western Massachusetts is challenging farmers’ ability to grow fruits and vegetables.
“We have the well-water up in Blandford where we live, and we’ll water the gardens in the morning. And then 20 minutes later you’re dry again. We can’t run the sprinkler all day long, so it does cause a bit of a problem,” said Blandford farmer Maureen Boomsma.
Boomsma said the dry weather really diminishes her raspberry crop. “The raspberries really need water,” she said. “Without water, you don’t get very many and they’re really little, and you don’t get much of a crop.”
The Farmers Market is a weekly event in Westfield. They set up every Thursday at noon, and stay open until 6:00 p.m.
