By Greg Ellison

(Nov. 5, 2020) With Thanksgiving and Christmas on the horizon, the Ocean Pines Farmers & Artisans Market remains a hotbed for fresh produce and holiday necessities.

Market Manager David Bean said people sometimes forget the market continues to be vibrant well beyond the summer harvest.

“In reality, we’re still going strong and continue … through the fall and winter,” he said.

Numerous fresh pickings are available each Saturday, but offerings shift with the seasons.

“There’s still local stuff being grown,” he said. “Even though the corn and tomatoes are finished, there’s fall crops like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower that are being harvested.”

Other farm fresh yields include greens, such as bok choy and collards, along with vegetables, such as carrots and turnips.

Autumn offerings also include squash, including butternut, acorn and spaghetti varieties, as well as sweet potatoes.

“This is a big time of the year for sweet potatoes,” he said. “There’s a local heirloom variety … called a Hayman that becomes available now at the beginning of November and it’s grown along the Eastern Shore.”

Bean said the white-flesh Hayman sweet potato has been a longstanding regional offering for holiday feasts.

“They call this the harvest season for a reason,” he said. “There’s a lot of stuff coming in and still growing even though the warmer temperatures are gone.”

Bean said apple crops are being picked, with byproducts like apple butter now in abundance.

“Pumpkin butter and the jams and jellies that have been made with the fresh fruits all summer, they’re available now too,” he said.

Bean said preserves provide an ideal homemade type of gift for seasonal gift giving.

“The things that people look for towards the holidays, the focus seems to change now to the heartier things that we eat in the cooler temperatures,” he said.

Fresh baked goods, while always enjoyable, tend to peak in demand with Thanksgiving approaching.

“Our bakers are making apple dumplings, banana breads and pies,” he said. “If someone doesn’t bake and they want a homemade pie, our bakers make those … by special order.”

To assure freshness, and accommodate other last-minute meal requirements, the market will open on Tuesday Nov. 24 from 9 a.m. to noon.

“Pies can be picked up at the market before Thanksgiving so they’re fresh,” he said.

Starting this week the market changes to slightly reduced offseason hours from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Saturday for the remainder of 2020.

Bean said new vendors continue to join the ranks. That includes Revell Roaster Coffee and Jackie Blue Crabs Seafood debuting on Nov. 21.

“They will have oysters, soft shell crabs, crab meat and scallops,” he said. “We even have a firewood vendor if someone wants to put a fire on the fireplace and not buy a whole bunch.”