It’ll be Opening Day soon for two of our favorite Philadelphia institutions: the Phillies and the Headhouse Farmers Market. While we don’t know if the Phillies will make or break our hearts this year, we do know that the market will offer the best assortment of locally grown produce, handcrafted artisan cheeses and chocolates (who said everything has to be healthy?) and fresh-baked goods.
Run by The Food Trust, there are strict requirements that all the vendors produce what they sell, so there’s no one selling chachkas or bringing in bulk products from far away. The ambience of the market matches the historic character of the neighborhood. It sits astride cobblestoned streets and is held in the circa-1804 brick headhouse in the Society Hill section of Philadelphia. A market was on this site when the neighborhood was first established in the 1740s so it has to be one of the oldest markets in America.
The Headhouse Farmers’ Market is our favorite place to shop for food. It opens at 10 on Sunday mornings, enticing us to roll out of bed at a reasonable time. The fact that it was only a few blocks walk for us when we lived in Philadelphia certainly helped. We’d start out with the best intentions to stock up on vegetables and fruit but always seem to come home with more croissants than carrots.
Since we’re away this year we’ll probably miss most of the growing season. Hopefully we’ll return in time for the autumn squashes and pumpkins and, just maybe, a parade for the Phillies. One can always dream.
For more information:
The Food Trust - An organization striving to make healthy food available to all.
The Headhouse Farmers’ Market – See which vendors have been added for 2012.
Okay, it's a bit immature but how could I resist this photo of someone walking by the Headhouse Market without, well, a head?
With Little Rocky's help, Larissa stops traffic in Saigon.
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How nice to see Headhouse Market! (for a moment I thought you were back in Philadelphia). I used to go for lunchtime walks through that area and all through Society Hill when I worked at the US Customhouse at 2nd and Chestnut. I do not know if it can be visited but there is a Revolutionary War era (or perhaps later) shot tower further south of Headhouse where molten lead was released drop by drop to solidfy into shot at the bottom. Your pictures are great by the way.
We’ve seen that shot tower from I-95 but never gone to it.
How much is a head there?
A bit more than a head of lettuce.