Higganum Farmers' Market To Hit The Green Friday

The Higganum Village Farmers' Market begins its fourth year on Higganum Green, in the Heart of Haddam--at the intersection of Route 154 (Saybrook Road) and Route 81 (Killingworth Road) and Candlewood Hill Road.

We start on June 1st and go until October 26th, always on Fridays on Higganum Green, from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.   

All are welcome to attend, good dogs on leashes, too!

We have entertainment at the market all summer long, and in July and August there's even music after the farmers' market when the Haddam Summer Concert Series resumes.

This year, we're featuring a very big opening day on June 1 with Connecticut's First Official State Troubadour, Tom Callinan! 

This special event kicks off the next 22 Market Fridays in style! Then, we go REALLY local on June 29th, with our homage to Haddam - as we say, "HAPPY 350th  BIRTHDAY HADDAM!" with Haddam 350th Committee and Haddam Historical Society, with special guest Connecticut recording artist Glenn Roth as a prelude to our town's Celebration in September at Haddam Meadows. 

July 6th is "Decorate your Bike Day!" with prizes for kids ages 1 to 100. 

Back by popular demand, July 13th is "Dog Day in the Park" when the HVFM especially hosts all good doggers on leashes to the market.

"We love people-friendly dogs on the Green," says Market Manager Gail Reynolds. "There are great photos of all these wonderful pooches from last year posted on our Facebook page, too."

This year, the market hosts some wonderful dog-treat and dog-centered vendors, so bring Lassie and Rin-Tin-Tin on down for a nice stroll on the Green! 

On August 3, put on your best summer shirt and make your way to Higganum Green for our "Summer Salsa Tasting Event - and Hawaiian Shirt Friday!"  A great and special market prize be awarded for the best tasting Summer Salsa!  Musical Guest "Conga-Jami-Ray" will being his energetic drumming circle back to the Green (Information about submitting your salsa for judging will also be posted at our website and newsletters). 

Our next big date is August 10 when we have our fourth annual eco-earth-friendly Green Fair--our "Goin' Green on the Green" event.  It is a great learning afternoon of fun and information! We'll feature renewable energy vendors, and energy-conscious companies.

This year we'll be having a book swap too! Plus, a healthy dose of "green" artisans and crafts people will be with us to show what they do to "recycle/upcycle-renew-repurpose-redo-rejuvenate -and- reuse!"

This year's local favorite "eco-fair" will be bigger and better. We even have Haddam-Killingworth High School's premier rock & roll band ProForma playing for us for the 3rd year in a row--performing fresh music and even recycled rock 'n' roll!

September 14 will feature a hands-on make-it-from-nature event at the market, Handcrafted from Nature. You'll want to bring your own chair; stop by the market tent for demonstration times.

Later on, when autumn comes to Haddam, we're featuring what we hope becomes an annual event, "Fiber Arts Day" on September 28.

The event will feature everything fiber--yarns, quilts, felting, spinning demos and all kinds of creative crafts with cloth, thread, looms and hands!

Another intriguing event scheduled on their calendar for October 5th,  is something near and dear to one of the original founding member Deb Umba's heart, "How to Have a Locally Made-$100.00 Christmas."  

Says Umba, "This idea for this event comes from a book title from one of my favorite authors, Bill McKibben. It's crazy what we sometimes do to give a gift." 

"We can make or do something a lot more meaningful, local and feel good about doing it, too, even if we're craft-challenged. We're planning on having a hands-on table set up where patrons can make something found right here in Higganum."

"This also gets at the heart of regaining some common sense into our lives; we have become a throw-away society," Umba said.  

Deb  will  be demonstrating a few crafty ways you can make something by hand for gift giving, made from things easily found in nature, as well as re-purposing great "found items" too.

Besides pumpkins, October 12 brings the return of local people running for office to the Higganum Green. "Politically Speaking" is our annual event to get people involved in local government;  come to meet and greet all local politicians hoping to win your vote in November!  

These are just a few of the weekly events your local Higganum Village Farmers' Market has in store for you. All information and event listings will be posted on our website at: www.higganumvillagefarmersmarket.org 

 Folks can sign up for our weekly newsletters, and see what else we've been doing with all our photos and find out more about our loyal vendorson our website, too. 

And remember, we support the hardest working farmer on planet earth--the honey bee. We say, "Bee Local and Bee Fresh!" because without this humble bee, there'd be a lot less bounty.

Please come out and support your local farmers, find the best of local food makers, artisans and community groups and enjoy some entertainment, too--right in your backyard!

Thank you for continued support and for making the HVFM the best local three-hour happy hour in all of Middlesex County! 

And please note that we are always seeking farmers, selected crafts people and  food vendors who make things by hand and create edibles from locally grown and/or sourced ingredients

Please contact Deb or Gail via Facebook for the most direct response.