Frequently Asked Questions
Two community members founded the Market in 2004. We are a registered 501 (c)3 grass-roots group of community members who make up our volunteer board along with a paid, part-time market manager. Stop by any Saturday to meet many of our board members and our manager who can frequently be found at our information tent.
This is community spirit at its finest, so please stop by to say hello, introduce yourself and let us know you're interested in helping us!
Community service hours are happily given to middle and high school students interested in volunteering.
We greatly appreciate the support of the West Windsor Parking Authority for allowing us to use the space at the Vaughn Drive lot. We thank West Windsor Township for support with Health Department paperwork, the portable toilets and Public Works for trash and recycling removal.
The WWCFM runs from 9:00am-1:00pm every Saturday from the first Saturday in May until the Saturday before Thanksgiving. While we don’t prohibit our farms and vendors from selling before 9:00am, we ask that you allow them the necessary time to set up and get ready for the Market. They will gladly sell early if they are ready.
Our Winter Market runs from 10:00am-1:00pm in our same lot on the 1st & 3rd Saturdays December through April.
Our farmers and vendors work hard all week to grow, raise, and produce the freshest local food in central New Jersey. Our marketing reads: rain or shine, and we mean it! Music, sponsors and/or special events may be cancelled due to inclement weather.
Severe weather would be the only reason that a market would be cancelled. Check our home page and/or our social media for up-to-the-minute updates. If you're ever unsure before heading out, feel free to call our manager at 609-913-7581.
Click the Vendors tab for information on all of our farms and vendors. This season, we are the proud host to 17 farms and 20 artisans, all of which are located within approximately 50 miles of West Windsor.
Many of our farms have been with us since our first year in 2004, and all are happy to engage in conversation about their farms, growing practices, and animal husbandry.
The majority of your weekly grocery shopping can be done at our open-air marketplace!
Look for fruits and vegetables, fresh flowers, mushrooms, pastured meat (beef, veal, lamb), poultry, dairy including cheese, bread and bakery items (including two gluten-free bakers along with many vegan options), fresh pasta, sustainably caught seafood, honey, soap, wine, herbs and teas, plants and flowers, ghee, curries and chutneys, sauces, jams, and pickles among other seasonal items. New for 2021, a brewery and distillery round out the amazing roster!
Breakfast and brunch options include cold pressed juice, acai bowls, sweet and savory crepes, local egg sandwiches, hash, and empanadas may be found at the Market.
We also offer a weekly knife/blade sharpening service.
Of our nine produce growers, including mushrooms, five are certified organic farms by the State of New Jersey and display signs accordingly.
Please discuss growing practices and pest control directly with our farmers, as they will happily engage in conversation. You may even walk away with a new recipe!
Fruit and vegetables grown in New Jersey grow differently than in warmer climates. We are in the Zone 7 growing region and our farmers only sell (and grow) fruit and vegetables that are seasonally appropriate to this area. That’s why you won’t find watermelon in May or strawberries in November. Please visit our information table to pick up a New Jersey seasonality chart, compliments of the New Jersey Farm Bureau.
As with the seasonality question, tropical fruit doesn’t typically grow in New Jersey, and therefore, you won’t see it at our Market.
Yes, well behaved, fully vaccinated dogs on leash are permitted at the market. We love our four legged friends!
A water bowl and treats are located at our information tent for them to grab a cool drink or a snack.
Please pick up after your dog, if Mother Nature calls. A public trash can is located behind the painted mural shed.
You, as pet owner assume responsibility for any incident that may occur while at the market.
The majority of our farms and vendors do accept cards. Please check with each farm and vendor.
The Market itself offers wooden tokens (Market Bucks) for sale at the information booth in $5 denominations that may be used like cash at any of our farms and vendors.
Our Market Bucks don’t have an expiration date, so if you have any remaining, you can use them at any time during the season.
We accept all major credit cards and currently charge a $1 transaction fee up to each $100 purchase.
Several of our growers are authorized by the State of New Jersey to accept WIC/FMNP (Farmers Market Nutrition Program) and Senior FMNP vouchers for local and fresh, uncut fruit and vegetables. Please stop by the information tent for a list of farms.
The WWCFM is authorized by the USDA to accept Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits (SNAP).
Customers using their SNAP/EBT card will receive wooden $1 tokens to shop for authorized foods. Please stop at the market information tent to swipe your EBT card to receive tokens to then shop within the Market.
Standard SNAP/EBT restrictions apply; therefore, farms and vendors may not give any change on the tokens. The SNAP tokens do not have an expiration date and may be used at any time during the Market season.
As a partner with the Garden State Good Food Network, our market matches dollar for dollar on SNAP purchases up to $20/card/market day towards fruits and vegetables! That means your $1 EBT swipe becomes $2 worth of fresh food!
Households can use SNAP benefits to buy:
- Foods for the household to eat, such as:
- breads and cereals;
- fruits and vegetables;
- meats, fish and poultry; and
- dairy products;
- Cookies, crackers, bakery cakes and ice cream;
- Seeds and plants, which produce food for the household to eat.
The tokens may not be used to purchase hot food or any food sold for on-premises consumption, alcohol or non-food items such as flowers, cosmetics, grooming items or soaps.
For more information on USDA SNAP eligible foods:
We carefully curate our farm and vendor roster, and our applications are typically by invite only.
Our farms and vendors commit to a full market season and as such we do not allow drop-in or guest farms/vendors.
Any value added food must be prepared in certified kitchens with health department licensing. New Jersey cottage rule home bakers are permitted if space allows, with proper licensing.
We encourage you to email our manager with the name of your business, links to your social media, and of course and a little bit about what you do for possible future consideration.
In our early years, we did offer space to crafters and jewelry makers. While we appreciate the beautiful handwork, and because of our mission to support New Jersey farmers, we keep the commerce to the relationships about farming and local artisan food vendors.
We host culinary-related makers (functional potters, hand-turned wooden bowls, etc) once per market week; we call this Cool-n-Airy (tm).
Please email us for more information and send along photos and a description of how your items relate to the food world.
We love our community so much that it's in our name! If you are a West Windsor (or local) non-profit or community group, please send us an email. Unfortunately, we typically wouldn't offer tables to national organizations.
We are currently work with the Yes, We CAN! volunteers for the Arm in Arm food pantries of Princeton and Trenton as the only group permitted to solicit any donations.
Girl/Boy Scouts with like minded projects around food, sustainability, the environment, or health and wellness are welcome to reach out to our manager for tabling opportunities.
The WWCFM is a wonderful way for you to spread the word about your local business. We offer varying seasonal sponsorship opportunities to local businesses. One sponsorship level includes sponsor days at the Market during our regular season.
Interested businesses should contact our Market Manager for a sponsor packet or click the sponsor tab to learn more.
Because our mission is to connect farmers directly with their consumers, and keep the money surrounding agriculture and local food, we typically don’t allow fundraising at the Market.
We work with a food assistance group and allow them to collect produce, shelf stable foods, and cash donations, which is spent at our farms and vendors, thus keeping the commerce within the marketplace.
On a rare occasion, we may work with a group who will sell a product to then donate the proceeds to charity. We appreciate all of the amazing initiatives in the community, but at this time, do not allow lemonade stands, flea market sales, backyard gardeners, or bake sales.
We pride ourselves on letting our shoppers enjoy the Market without being approached by any religious, political, protesting, soliciting, petitioning, and/or picketing individual or groups.
Do not put us in the position to have to ask you to leave the market and we kindly ask that you keep these endeavors outside our Marketplace.
Please direct any comments to our Market Manager.
We use space provided by the West Windsor Parking Authority who has strict rules about keeping the lot politically neutral.
Just because the outdoor season closes doesn’t mean there isn’t local food!
Winter and early Spring markets will be held outdoors at the Upper Vaughn lot of the Princeton Junction train stationon on the first and third Saturdays of December through April.
Please note that we shorten the market time by one hour to 10:00am-1:00pm.
Please sign up for our newsletter or follow our social media links to stay up-to-date on winter market rosters, community groups, and live music.
It surely takes a village to run a farmers market and we love when community members enjoy the market as much as we, the organizers do!
We welcome local residents who would like to help us with setting up or putting away the market each week, parking lot control, traffic counts, or whatever you may be good at that can help us!
We offer community service hours for middle and high school students interested in helping out. Students must be old enough to be left for a volunteer shift without parental supervision - typically eighth grade or above.
Please email our Manager, Chris Cirkus for more information (manager@westwindsorfarmersmarket.org)
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we have curtailed special events. Stay tuned for the return of the extra market fun.
Our entire outdoor season music schedule fills within a few days of opening it to local musicians.
We do that in late winter, so be sure to send us an email if you’re a local musician who would like to get on our roster for next season.
The Market has ample free parking along the back and third lane - note that the market entrance has changed to 877 Alexander Road (the upper Vaughn Lot) which is 2/10 mile east of the intersection of Alexander/Vaughn Dr.
If you park in our lower lot (the market lot), we are a one-way in, one-way out, entering through Alexander Road and exiting onto Vaughn Drive. If you choose to park in the upper Vaughn Lot, you may exit back out onto Alexander Road, obeying West Windsor traffic signage.
Handicapped parking can be found in the parking lane of the market at the break in the middle, clearly marked with signs and cones.
Bicycles may be parked at the racks near the Vaughn Drive entrance.
You do not need to pay using the app for the market! Free parking during market hours.
Pedestrians are welcome to walk into the market from any safe entry point.
There is a portable restroom located in the parking lot behind our Farmers Market shed and a hand washing station just outside of it.
We place tables and chairs near each food truck as well as near the weekly musicians.
Please be considerate and wipe tables down with the provided wipes after enjoying your meal or beverage.
Absolutely! Feel free to stop at the information tent to leave your bags with us while you shop.
We also offer complimentary rolling baskets for use within the marketplace.
We currently offer WWCFM bags and aprons for sale at the information table.
We sell market tokens (Market Bucks). These $5 wooden nickels can be used as cash at any of our farms and vendors and make great gifts for teachers, coaches, family members and children’s allowance.
Tokens may be purchased at the market information tent using any major credit card with a $1 transaction fee for purchases up to $100.
Your attendance at our market allows us to use your image for our social media, website, or marketing. etc.