Mount Hope Farmers Market Summer/Outdoor Season Begins!

Bristol, RI, 5/20/16 — The Mount Hope Year-round Farmers Market will kick off its summer season on Saturday, May 28th at Mount Hope Farm in Bristol. The market will set up in the South Pasture, where there’s plenty of room to picnic & play while you check out the ever-expanding array of farmers and food-producers selling fresh & local goods this season.

On June 4th at the market, we will celebrate spring with the annual Mount Hope Farm Sheep Shearing and the Rhode Island Spinners Guild Picnic: master sheep shearer Andy Rice will be down from Vermont to show us how the farm’s English Southdown Sheep lose their winter coats, local wool spinners & weavers will be demonstrating their craft under the trees, and no doubt the Mount Hope Farm baby goats will stroll down to the market to check it all out!

Credit/Debit Cards, SNAP & WIC are all accepted at the market, and we are very excited to again be able to offer “Bonus Bucks” to SNAP users at the market. This 40% local & healthy foods incentive match is made possible through USDA grant funding and the generous support of Wholesome Wave & Farm Fresh RI!

The summer market runs outdoors every Saturday, 9:00am--1:00pm, rain or shine, through October 22, and takes place right along Metacom Ave/Rte 136, in the South Pasture of the historic Mount Hope Farm in Bristol, RI. The market offers local Vegetables, Flowers, Herbs, Fruits, Meats, Seafood, Eggs, Cheese, Coffee, Honey, Bread, Pastries, Prepared Foods, Potted Flowers & Herbs, Soaps & Live Music, as well as periodic workshops, demonstrations, electronic waste drop-offs and more. Farmers and producers from all over the state of Rhode Island and adjacent areas are represented. (In the winter the market moves back into the farm’s historic heated barn.)

Mount Hope Farm is managed by the Mount Hope Trust, a 501c3 nonprofit, and is sited on 127 acres of fields and woodlands, stretching down to the shores of the Mount Hope Bay. Market-goers are encouraged to grab a trail map and explore the farm: visit the barnyard (sheep, goats, donkeys, & chickens), check out the Mount Hope Farm Growing4Good Garden, and walk the farm’s trails before and after your market shopping!

For more information, contact the Market Manager, Cassie Tharinger, at farmersmarket@mounthopefarm.org.