Thursday, February 2, 2023: I decided to make another visit to the Berlin Farmers Market, 41 Clementon Road, Berlin (Camden County), New Jersey (856-767-1246). Last June (2022) I was here for the first time since 2019, and I wrote about my visit in a memoir article on this blog called Early Childhood Places. In it I compared seeing this market from the time I was a child in the 1960s to 2022. As for this essay, I would try to tell you what you should expect if you visited here. First, there has been the indoor market of over 85 spaces for vendors on one level in a climate controlled building. These vendors sold many kinds of merchandise: food, clothing, and jewelry, as well as housewares, beauty products, gifts, accessories, toys, books, etc., from mostly local people. (There are no big-name chain stores here!) The indoor building has been opened Thursday through Sunday. Second, there were the outside vendors who sold their many kinds of stuff, both edible and non-edible, on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. At its peak, this place could have over 700 of them on both asphalt and dirt. (Please keep in mind that you buy at your own risk from the outside vendors.) Third, throughout the year, Berlin Farmers Market has played host to special events. Nevertheless, no matter when you visit here, you would most likely buy something at one of the oldest and largest farmers markets on the east coast. You might even decide to rent an outdoor space and become a vendor.
