Washington High School junior Nell Friend, left, hands a bag full of greens to a customer at the Tudor Hall Farm stand in the Shepherdstown Farmers Market on Sunday morning. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Thirty-four years ago, the Shepherdstown Farmers Market was started in downtown Shepherdstown by a group of local farmers, including the parents of Natalie Friend, who has since taken over the reigns from her parents, as lead organizer of the market and owner and operator of their family farm, Tudor Hall Farm in Middleway.

“I think I was maybe 11 or 12 when the market started. My dad and mom owned the business at that time, and now I’ve taken over the business,” Friend said. “I got some pressure on my side to take it over — I am the eighth generation and my children are the ninth. We’ve got to keep her going!”

Early Sunday morning, Friend could be seen with Mayor Jim Auxer and members of the town council, holding a ribbon cutting ceremony to mark the beginning of the Shepherdstown Farmers Market’s outdoor season, which extends from the first Sunday in spring through the last Sunday before Christmas. During its outdoor season, the market is held behind the Market House on South King Street, every Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Its indoor season is held biweekly in the War Memorial Building, during the winter.

“We were one of the founding members,” Friend said, mentioning that all of the other founding makers and farmers involved in the market have since retired. “We work hard to keep it going!”

While the Shepherdstown Farmers Market opens its outdoor season earlier than any other farmers market in the region, Friend said she views this as a strength. The earlier start date ensures that all of the farmers market’s vendors do not miss out on selling their food and goods to Easter shoppers.

Shoppers walk around the Shepherdstown Farmers Market on Sunday morning. Tabitha Johnston

“We have sellers who want to sell Easter flowers — they wouldn’t always be able to do that if we opened later in the spring,” Friend said, before noting that she and some of her fellow farmers use high tunnel greenhouse-like structures, to make sure they have produce to sell year-round. “We plan to have these greens. We have high tunnels — we have them full, because we sell through the winter, too.”

Friend watched as her daughter Nell, a junior at Washington High School, bagged up some kale for a customer at Tudor Hall Farm’s booth.

“The turnout today has been great! This is how you keep the green spaces green — your farm has to make money,” Friend said. “[Farming] is a labor of love. We do this because we love it.”

“It’s really important to me that there is local food in my community. You really do need local food!” Friend said, noting this was a lesson taught by the supply chain shortages caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. “That supply chain shortage we experienced then can happen again. Having local food is important, [to the extent that] even though I sell produce, I wish that more people gardened.”

Those who participate in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food and Nutrition Service Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) can purchase items at the the Shepherdstown Farmers Market, through swiping their EBT cards to get coupons worth a dollar and through taking advantage of grant funding that matches participants’ funds for fruits and vegetables, according to Friend.

David Harper fills the Shepherdstown Farmers Market with song on Sunday morning. Tabitha Johnston

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/ShepherdstownFarmersMarket.