HAVERHILL — The summertime loneliness suffered by Wally and Stephanie Lesiczka is about to end.
The Lesiczkas are local farmers who have been all but alone at Haverhill's farmers market for the last few years — but this summer will be different. So will the products sold at the market, which operates annually on Bailey Boulevard next to GAR Park, a block north of downtown.
There will, as always, be tomatoes and cucumbers and other goods traditionally found at any farmers market.
Organizers are providing a different twist this year, however, with the addition of homemade ice cream and baked goods, handmade soap and gourmet coffee.
In an effort to expand and promote the outdoor market, now in its 31st year, Team Haverhill is recruiting vendors interested in selling locally grown or made products such as eggs and honey, as well as those selling the kinds of products you might not expect to see, such as soap, cups of coffee and scoops of ice cream.
"Since the motto for the Haverhill Farmers Market is 'Seller Made, Seller Grown,' we're focusing on local people who grow their own produce or make their own products," said Bradford resident Kate Martin, a member of Team Haverhill's new farmers market committee, which is planning the July 18 market opening.
Team Haverhill is a communitywide volunteer group that works to improve the city.
"We're trying to create a good variety of items to sell, and include businesses from the downtown," Martin said. "The Wicked Big Cafe will be selling cups of coffee. England's MicroCreamery will be selling ice cream. We're trying to get a baker and we have Long Hill Orchard in West Newbury coming with organic produce."
Haverhill's farmers market began in 1978 with 13 local farm owners, including Wally Lesiczka, as well as backyard farmers who sold their locally grown fruits and vegetables on Bailey Boulevard. The outdoor market grew in popularity among inner city residents, especially senior citizens living nearby who could walk there to buy the fresh produce.
For various reasons, many of those local farms faded away and for the last five years it's just been the Lesiczkas, along with the late summer addition of Fay's Farm, an apple, peach and vegetable farm on Amesbury Line Road in Haverhill.
"Having the market on Bailey Boulevard has worked out the best for us and for people, including seniors who live near there," said Wally Lesiczka.
For this local farmer, the outdoor marketplace next to GAR Park is all about selling locally made or locally grown products.
"We had a problem in the past of people just wanting to sell produce," he said.
Earlier in the year, Martin attended her first Team Haverhill meeting with the intention of volunteering. She ended up joining the farmers market committee. Last summer, she and her husband, Brett, traveled as far as Portsmouth, N.H., in search of fresh, local produce for their 21รขÑ2-year-old son, who has serious food allergies. They also bought produce at Wally's stand at the farmers market.
"We've talked to Stephanie Lesiczka and she has been very helpful in giving us the background of the market and what it takes to make it successful," Martin said.
Jane England, who makes and sells her own ice cream at England's MicroCreamery on Washington Street, decided to get onboard with Team Haverhill's push to expand the farmers market this year.
"It's an excellent opportunity to buy locally, and to buy fresh, whether it's handmade, locally produced or locally grown," England said.
To keep the market going, it will need the kind of exposure and constant advertising that a lone farmer can't afford, Lesiczka said.
"You really need the support of an organization or the city as our costs of farming are growing," he said.
The participation fee for produce is $100 per season, or $10 per Saturday, and $5 per Saturday for crafts.
Vendor applications are available online at www.haverhillfarmersmarket.com. Anyone who wants to volunteer at the market is asked to contact Kate Martin at kgannonmartin@verizon.net.
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