While Carol Carrico of Ellicott City was looking for garlic, fresh fruit and chocolate croissants at the farmers' market at the east Columbia library last week, Columbia farmer David Shaw caught her eye with a container of brightly colored snapdragon blossoms.
After a free taste and an explanation of how to use the flower in salads, Carrico decided, "I've got to have it."
Freshness, variety and friendly advice are key features that attract customers to the four weekly markets in Howard County. A shrinking number of farmers are hoping those things will be enough to keep people coming back.
Over the past six years, two weekday markets have gotten established at the Mount Pisgah AME Church in Columbia and the east Columbia library after changing locations for several years before that. A Saturday market was added at the Glenwood library in 2004 and a year-old market at Oakland Mills Village Center was moved this season to Sundays.
But the overall number of vendors -- including fruit and vegetable farmers, bakeries and the occasional purveyor of homemade products -- has dropped, with five to seven sellers at each site this year.
Across Maryland, the number of farmers' markets has increased from 77 last year to 81 this year, said Joan Schulz, administrator of the farmers' market nutrition program for the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Many of them are perfectly content to remain small.
She said many communities like the idea of having a market, but the biggest problem is getting the public to spend money there.
She said farmers have to face rising gasoline prices, the time and labor of attending markets and the fact that fresh produce that doesn't sell won't keep.
"These people are businessmen," Schulz said. "They have to re-examine their priorities and determine which market would be profitable. ... The bottom line is your community has to be big enough to generate enough customers, and that is part of the problem."
Locally, Shaw is believed to be the only farmer based in Howard County participating in the Howard markets this year.
Some of the county's produce farmers -- of which there are fewer than a dozen -- have chosen to focus on farm stands, subscription services or pick-your-own operations. Some now sell at markets in neighboring counties, while others have stopped attending markets for health or personal reasons.
That leads to a "chicken and egg" issue said Shaw, an organic farmer who has served as a market manager. Customers are often attracted to bigger markets while vendors are looking for larger customer bases.
Lana Edelen, a Charles County farmer who is market manager Tuesday and Sunday, said she is able to make a profit at the Howard markets, but that each year the number of customers seems to be dropping.
"I don't know why the customers don't show up," she said. "We're there. We're visible from the road. We're advertising. Our signs are out."
She said vendors now depend on a core of dedicated shoppers.
"Over the years, I know a lot of regular people that come," Edelen said. When they take a vacation or don't come for a while, she said, she misses them. "After all these years, we've become kind of attached to each other."
The current Howard market vendors, who come from roughly a 120-mile radius, including Maryland's Eastern Shore and Virginia, say the size of the Howard markets is appropriate for the number of customers now. There are enough producers to ensure variety, but not so many that they fail to make money.
Having vendors from other areas also increases the choices, farmers say, with staples such as corn and melons available from different farms on different weeks.
At the Thursday market, shopper Henry Ziegler of Columbia said he purposefully visits several vendors for beets, peaches, corn, melons and other produce.
"I try to support multiple people," he said. "Hopefully, if they are making money, they will show up. ... They are small businesses and I appreciate what they do."
Lesly Berger of Ellicott City was captivated Thursday by the squash blossoms at the stand run by Jim Crebs of Tomatoes Etc. Produce Farm in Westminster.
She said she had read about cooking with the little yellow flowers attached to the ends of the squash, but she had never seen them. Then she listened as Crebs explained how to stuff the blossoms with cheese and grill them.
"I'm kind of an impulse fruit and vegetable buyer," Berger said. "They have different kinds of cucumbers here, different varieties of tomatoes."
She said the loss of some farmers from the markets has been disappointing, but she enjoys the one-on-one interactions with those who remain.
"All these people are really great, and you really want to see them make it," she said.
Crebs said developing relationships with customers is a big part of selling at the market.
"You have to set your table up to look attractive to bring people in," Crebs said. Having recipes or signs indicating how to cook the vegetables helps, too.
"That's why we do well here," he said. "People come back."
He added, that despite the difficulties of farming, "there are not too many jobs where people smile when they give you their money."
sandy.alexander@baltsun.com
Howard County farmers' markets
WIC and Senior FMNP checks are accepted at all markets. Information: www.hceda.org/agriculture
Tuesdays
Where: Mount Pisgah AME Church, 5901 Cedar Fern Court, Columbia.
Hours: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. through October
Thursdays
Where: East Columbia library, 6600 Cradlerock Way.
Hours: 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. through November
Saturdays
Where: Glenwood library, 2350 Route 97.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. through October.
Sundays
Where: Oakland Mills Village Center, 5851 Robert Oliver Place, Columbia.
Hours: 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. through October.