BORDENTOWN – There are two new faces running the Bordentown City Farmers Market for the 2022 season.
Bordentown City residents Yasmin Qazilbash and Cara Murphy are both looking forward to continuing the Sunday morning tradition of the Bordentown City Farmers Market, which will open for its 13th year on June 5 at the Carslake Community Center.
“It’s fun and exciting to be providing local products to people and supporting the community,” said Murphy. “I’ve been looking to get more involved in the community. Helping support local businesses is a great way to give back to the community.”
Qazilbash has been a resident of Bordentown since 2019 and works in human services as a provider of vocational services for adults with emotional, behavioral and cognitive differences. Murphy, who works in human resources, moved to the Bordentown area this fall.
The farmers market will run every Sunday until Sept. 25th from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Local vendors from Burlington County, Mercer County, and many small businesses from right in the heart of Bordentown will be on hand for local residents to explore each Sunday all summer long.
Qazilbash and Murphy were thrown into the fire as you would say in setting up the farmers market this season, taking over the operation in April after both former managers Sruti Desai and Hillery Lamb stepped down from their manager positions.
Both Qazilbash and Murphy decided to take on the opportunity of running the farmers market because of the risk that it would not run again until 2023.
The “biggest challenge” with the late start has been recruiting new vendors and keeping previous ones, said Qazilbash.
As of right now, there are around 15 vendors on tap for the farmers market. Qazilbash said the goal will be to have 20 or more vendors as the season goes on.
“We’ve been working very hard,” Qazilbash said of the recruiting process. “It’s been a lot of work. We’ve been making a lot of strides and believe it will all pay off.”
The Downtown Bordentown Association (DBA) has provided some assistance to Qazilbash and Murphy during the recruiting process, providing some local businesses as vendors for the farmers market.
“We have gotten a lot of support from Bordentown City and the DBA,” Qazilbash said.
For opening day of the 2002 season, Qazilbash and Murphy have set up a great morning of festivities for attendees.
There will be live music on hand by local musicians who performed at the city’s recent inaugural PorchFest. A variety of food trucks will also be stationed at the farmers market.
Throughout the festivities, Qazilbash and Murphy plan on speaking to attendees to hear their thoughts on the event and gather any suggestions they have to help them make the farmers market better as the season goes on.
Both first-time managers value keeping the Sunday morning tradition thriving in the Bordentown community and want to help the farmers market continue to grow for years to come.
“Hopefully this can continue to grow,” Murphy said. “It’s been around now for over 10 years. We want to make sure it’s here for another 10 years.”
