We were all worried when we got up Wednesday morning that it was going to pour with rain for the opening of the 2009 Woodmont Farmers' Market season, and it certainly did rain heavily after Mary had finished decorating the tractor and trailer for its new job as a stage for the afternoon festivities. But the strange and wonderful microclimate of Woodmont as well as our mantra "the sun always shines on market day" seemed to clear everything up by the time the vendors started arriving to set up around 2:30pm.

We opened at 3:30pm and a steady flow of shoppers kept arriving until we closed at 7pm.

We have a wonderful variety of vendors:

• Gambardellas - fish

• Beltane Farm - goat cheese

• Hidden Brook Gardens - organic produce

• Wave Hill Breads - artisan French bread

• Cheesecake to a T - cheesecake

• Snooty Foods - spreads, dips, pickles

• Cato Corners - farmstead cheeses

• Three Sisters Farm - certified naturally grown honey, lip balms, soaps and other specialties

• Roses Berry Farm - produce, fruit

• Trudy and Sage - goats milk soaps

• Cornflower Gardens - herbal skin care cosmetics

• Fresh Lemonade

• Tails Will Wag - dog and cat treats

• Kathy's Cookies - cookies, brownies

• Catch a Healthy Habit - smoothies, raw foods to go

• Farm to Hearth - wood-fired and made to order flatbread pizza

Mike and Laura Gambardella have been at the farmers' market from the beginning last year and love it so much they have been coming to the farm all year to supply the growing number of people who have gotten hooked on their wonderful fresh fish. So when they mentioned a young friend of theirs who happened to be an opera tenor as someone who was interested in singing at the market, we thought "why not?!"

Aaron Caruso came over to the farm a couple of weeks ago and we talked about making a stage from a vintage Farmall tractor and a wooden trailer - both of which while rather elderly, are still in regular use. If you happened to be at the market on Wednesday, you couldn't help but have a chuckle because Aaron brought quite a few friends to sing and play with him including his band who all sat up on the trailer and played. It made quite a good stage!

Newly crowned Miss Connecticut, Sharalynn Kuziak dropped in to see us delighting lots of young girls and aspiring princesses who waited to have their photos taken with her.

All in all, it was a great afternoon, despite the sometimes threatening skies which never spilled a drop after we opened.

Check back for updates, list of vendors each week and other news!