Haddon Heights, NJ launched the second season of its Farmers Market Sunday, with new vendors and new generations of family businesses in the mix.
"We're a bit more than double the size of last year," director Joe Gentile said. "We've got about 28 vendors, including a new farm, homemade ice cream, hand-made jewelry, a soapmaker, and a juicer."
Despite established competitors in nearby Collingswood, Haddonfield, and Westmont, the Haddon Heights market at Station and Atlantic avenues bustled on opening day.
I stopped at Mitchell and Geno Specialty Sausage, run by two brothers who are descendants of the two founders -- who also were brothers.
"We do a dozen different kinds of sausage, and some of the recipes were our Grandpop's," said Chris Michalak, who along with his brother, Mike, revived the family firm.
"We ended up getting the original equipment when [Mitchell and Geno] died," Chris said. "It was in a friend of my uncle's garage, and we started messing around with it, making sausage and selling it to friends. So we decided to go legit."
It was a similar story at the nearby Mrs. Bunny Cakes stand, where Maris Hare talked about the latest iteration of the Washington Township business owned by her parents, John and Roberta Hare.
The surname inspired the name of the company, which specializes in pastries and also makes ice cream.
"The biscotti is my great-grandmother's recipe," Maris said. "We also are going to have dairy-free ices, such as cucumber basil sweet ice."