Guy Henderson
In a city that’s blessed with more than its fair share of city markets and farmer’s markets, there’s a special character to the Waverly Market that earns it a place among the best. The Baltimore Sun has called it “the Charles Village Social Event of the Week.”
Open all year long – but only Saturdays from 7 am until noon – the market, also known as the “32nd Street Farmers Market,” (at E. 32nd and Barclay streets) features a colorful menu of vegetables that were probably harvested just days ago by the couple you’re buying them from. The bread likely came out of the oven just hours before you got there. And the crazy-good portobello mushrooms and ready-to-barbecue meats will remind you of what it must have been like before food started to become processed for appearance rather than flavor.
The produce is generally organic and strictly locally grown (at least from the second week of June through Thanksgiving). Just about every visitor and vendor is locally grown too, and happy to share their joy experiencing shopping and eating “the way it used to be.” It all makes for an atmosphere that’s more social gathering than food expedition, giving new meaning to the term “comfort food.”
Best of all – or maybe not best of all, since there’s so much to like about the Waverly Market – the emphasis on “local” means that the money spent there goes right back into the community in more ways than one. In fact, the 32nd Street Farmers Market makes grants each year with any money left over after expenses to local organizations that work to strengthen their neighborhood. They’ve helped to fund new playgrounds, contributed to schools, supported their local boys’ choir and offered help to worthy groups that puts this good neighbor in a category of its own.
Treat yourself this Saturday and you’re likely to find yourself back there a few more times before Thanksgiving. MTA’s Local Bus #3, #8 or #22 will take you where you want to be.
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