Summer is back in season. In Carver, that means vendors are pitching up canopy tents in Shurtleff Park to sell locally made goods, ranging from handmade soaps to award-winning chili.
For those who have a green thumb, a sweet tooth, or an ear for music, the Carver Farmers Market is back in session and open Sunday afternoons to the end of October.
The park was filled with live music as local artists, crafters and chefs showed off their skills.
Betsy Neville is a former Carver resident who operates Betsy’s Bakin’, a home baking business that Neville has been running for the last five years, she said.
Neville sells homemade baked goods that she made from scratch. She said that everything that she makes is made using “real stuff.”
This is Neville’s third season at the farmers market, she said.
“There’s nothing like seeing someone smile after they put something you made in their mouth,” Neville said. “Best feeling ever.”
Stacey Curtin is in her second year as a farmers market vendor, which she said she has loved.
Curtin sold products made by hand pouring cement, a process that she said was similar to pouring resin. With this method, she made products like candle and cigar holders, bowls and soap dishes, all of which were on sale at the market.
Curtin also sold candles, which she said she started making five years ago. Curtin is a director of the Firehouse Food Pantry in Pembroke and decided to give candlemaking a try to benefit the pantry during a vendor fair.
“People seem to like them,” she said.
A common theme of goods being sold at the market was Carver-based and inspired products.
Market organizer and vendor Mike Nash sold flowers with his business, Nash’s Nursery. Nash said that he has been a vendor at the market for the last 19 years.
Nash said that the plants were not just bought at the store, but grown here in town.
“Mother nature’s the boss,” he said.
Bob Costello has lived in Carver for 40 years and sold his award-winning chili and salsa at the market, including his “spicy Carver salsa” and “chilly chili.”
Costello has been doing chili contests for around 30 years, with all kinds of chili, he said. And according to Costello, he has won the Martha’s Vineyard “Big Chili Contest” seven times.
A nod to Carver’s staple crop, Costello’s “spicy Carver salsa” included cranberries, among more traditional salsa ingredients.
Carver resident Debbie Joyce said that she has been a market vendor since the farmers market started, where she sells crafts made of driftwood and items that she collects from nearby beaches.
Joyce also sells handmade, detergent-free soap, including soaps made from goat milk, oatmeal, and one even with a cranberry scent.
Joyce said that working as a vendor at the market is fun.
Joyce’s friend Pauline Ellis, who joined her at the booth, said that Joyce is “a true crafter.”
Ceramic dishes made with hand poured cement were some of the many items being sold at the farmers market. 
Betsy Neville’s homemade vanilla paste and vanilla extract. 
Costello displayed a dictionary definition of the word “salsa” at his table. 
Costello stands with his awards, won for his salsa and chili-making abilities. 
A driftwood decorative piece made by Debbie Joyce. 
Meeko the dog was one of the many faces at the farmer’s market on Sunday, June 23.
Contact editor Nick Mossman at nick@carverjournal.com
