By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Karen Haugh slowly made her way around the tent-covered Al’s Produce fruit and vegetable stand at Sea Isle City’s Farmers Market.
As she did, she selected corn on the cob, red peppers, yellow peaches, zucchini and eggplant that came straight from Al Izzi’s farm in neighboring Ocean View.
“Everything here is so fresh,” Haugh said.
For all of the fruits and vegetables that Haugh packed into her shopping bags on Tuesday, she paid just $20.50 – far less than what the same amount of produce would have cost her at the supermarket.
A summer tradition since 2010, the Farmers Market, held every Tuesday from late June to late August in Sea Isle’s Excursion Park, brings a taste of the country to the beach resort.
Customers find super-fresh fruits and veggies sold at roadside-stand prices at the market, which is sponsored by the Sea Isle City Chamber of Commerce and Revitalization. There is also an assortment of food, non-alcoholic beverages, crafts and specialty items sold by more than 30 vendors.
However, Tuesday was the last day for the Farmers Market for the summer of 2022. Customers, predictably, were disappointed to see one of their favorite summertime treats wrap up for the year now that fall is just around the corner.
“It’s so sad,” Haugh said.
For Haugh, Tuesday was her very first trip to the Farmers Market. Haugh is one of the guides for Sea Isle’s family-friendly beachcombing tours held each Tuesday over the summer, so her schedule prevented her from shopping at the market.
“It’s the first time that I’ve been able to make it. But unfortunately, it’s the last,” Haugh said of Tuesday’s swansong for the 2022 Farmers Market.
Haugh, though, is a regular at the Al’s Produce roadside stand on Route 550 in Ocean View.
“I always go to their stand. They’re the best,” she said.
Sandra Izzi, the wife of Al Izzi, the owner of Al’s Produce, noted that it is a treat for them to see their customers every Tuesday in Sea Isle and then have them stop by on other days of the week at their roadside stand in Ocean View.
“We had a lot of business. There were a lot more people,” Sandra Izzi said of this summer’s Farmers Market in Sea Isle.
She noted that it appeared that customers were far more comfortable this year because there were no COVID-19 restrictions.
In 2020, customers and vendors were required to wear masks and observe social distancing at the Farmers Market. As the pandemic began to ease in 2021, so did the COVID-related restrictions. Masks and social distancing were no longer required last year. There were no mask requirements or crowd restrictions this summer, either.
“A lot of people feel safer,” Sandra Izzi explained.
Kelly Pennoni and Lara Sulpizio, two shoppers at the Farmers Market, were loading up on tomatoes, basil, peaches, avocados, onions, potatoes and zucchini. They are both big fans of the market.
“I came here every week but one this summer. It’s kind of like a fun ritual,” said Pennoni, who lives in Media, Pa., and has a vacation home in Sea Isle.
Sulpizio, who lives in Cherry Hill and has a summer home in Ocean City, said she loves the variety and freshness of the fruits and veggies.
“It’s just better. It hasn’t been shipped from Timbuktu. It’s local. It’s shipped from right down the road,” Sulpizio said.
Although it’s called the Farmers Market, a variety of items are sold – ranging from flowers to crafts to freshly baked specialty foods to healthy beverages.
Mary Ellen Muth, of Muth Farm Flowers, was just about sold out of her colorful bouquets on Tuesday.
“What I love about the Farmers Market are the faces I see. I have a great relationship with my repeat customers,” Muth said as she handed some flowers to one of her loyal customers, Adel Tice of Somers Point.
At the same time, Muth told Tice that she hoped to see her again – at the Farmers Market in 2023.
