Asked why he came out last Thursday to the seasonal opening of the Clark Park Farmers' Market, area resident William Davis decided to let the goods speak for themselves.
"Here, taste one -- you'll find out," Davis said, offering up one of his recently purchased strawberries. "They're not like supermarket strawberries, they're altogether different -- softer and sweeter."
Now entering its fourth year, the Farmers' Market has met the needs of farmers and urbanites like Davis alike, supplying fresh produce, baked goods and flowers straight from surrounding farms to the corner of 43rd Street and Baltimore Avenue.
"I enjoy making it all," said Linda Stolzfus of Ephrata, as she stood behind the bewildering array of pies, cakes, breads and cookies that her family bakes for the occasion. According to her, the sticky buns were made just that morning.
But Stolzfus, returning for her second year at the market, somehow manages not to have a sweet tooth.
"You actually don't eat as much... when you make it because you're satisfied with just the smell," she said.
The other side of the sidewalk was lined with much healthier fare, including such produce as lettuce, potatoes, rhubarb and onions. But the growing season is still too early for summer delights like corn-on-the-cob.
"It's important that people have their expectations in check," Farmers' Market Trust Executive Director Duane Perry said, adding that sweet corn should be available by July.
And with the local nature of the market, other requests might be even harder to fulfill.
"One woman came through... and wanted to know if we had any oranges and bananas," said resident Beth Showell, who offers weekly cooking demonstrations. "I said, `We don't grow those in Pennsylvania.'"
The Trust runs 11 markets throughout Philadelphia, Camden and Chester. But the Clark Park market is one of its largest, allowing it the unusual distinction of being open two days per week -- Thursday and Saturday.
More days might even be better for long-time neighborhood resident Phyllis Kaniss, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center's Student Voices program. Kaniss has been a regular shopper at the market since its inception.
"I think it's one of the most wonderful things to have happened to West Philadelphia," Kaniss said, clutching her purchases of a hanging plant, asparagus and strawberries.
However, not all those at the market during its opening hours shared Kaniss' enthusiasm.
"It's slow, but they say that people don't really know that it's here yet," Jennie Ambruster of Mullica Hill, New Jersey, said as she displayed her flowers and herbs for sale. "Hopefully it picks up."
University City District Marketing Director Allison Kelsey agreed, saying the day's attendance was "not going to be good." However, she said that the number of customers last year shot up to nearly 600 by the middle of the season when "everyone remembered what was here and was kind of used to the idea."
The Trust began the market in conjunction with the UCD, which provides marketing and operating support. The UCD sees the market as a key component of its mission to make University City more livable.
"It's part of a healthy urban neighborhood," Kelsey said. "If you look at other elements of downtowns that have been revived and neighborhoods that are coming back, quite often there's this kind of farmers' market attachment to it."
Perry maintains that farmers' markets benefit both communities involved.
"To not only know the people that grow your food, but be able to talk to them... underscores the common bond between the rural and urban areas," he said. "Often times we feel as though we're not members of the same community -- the markets help to bring us together."
