Coventry Farmers Market

One of the colorful produce displays
at the market

This may not be the oldest farmers market  in Connecticut, but it is certainly the liveliest. The Coventry Farmers Market runs from early June through October, and it is the largest and most diverse of the regional farmers markets in Connecticut,  boasting more than 50 vendors each week.  It is situated in the northeast part of the state, on the grounds of the Nathan Hale Homestead. Each week there is a special event or food sampling under the central tent located just as you enter the market area. You might be sampling seafood or marinated mushrooms, or whatever is the focus of the week to showcase some of the products available. Often, there is a special display to educate or entertain the public on such things as local mushrooms, pottery, or wool spinning. There is a good variety of vendors, selling locally grown produce, cheese, meat or fish. Each week there are a few vendors who attend the market on a one time only basis, to keep the market fresh and interesting. But it's the long-standing regulars that draw the crowds who come for the fresh produce, cheese, meat, fish and home-baked goods. The social time and the entertainment is just a bonus.

Right next door is the Nathan Hale Homestead, which offers tours of the house and periodically has re-enactments of the revolutionary war on the grounds.  The museum offers discounts to tour the house on market days, so if you are interested in going inside, this is a good time to do so.

What to Photograph

There is a lot of activity at this market and there is always something to photograph, whether it's the food, the vendors, the people or the dogs. It's a great place to capture the beautifully displayed fresh produce neatly displayed by the vendors. Strawberries, raspberries or blueberries might fill a tabletop, all lined up waiting to be photographed. All sorts of seasonal vegetables are artfully displayed, with signs to match. The vendors themselves are also good subjects, and many of them will pose with their wares if asked. And there are a number of vendors preparing samples or fast food to sell, and it's fun to catch them at their work. Check the website for a schedule of special days: the wool festival in September is a good one to go to. You'll see alpacas and sheep, and people spinning wool or just selling colorful handmade goods.

This is a dog friendly market, and people with dogs are generally happy to have a photo taken of their pet.  There is often a musician playing just inside the entrance to the market under the shade of a large tree who won't mind being photographed.

The Nathan Hale Homestead is another good subject. The red frame colonial home and outbuildings are clearly visible from the market area. A low stone wall surrounds the grounds, and is a good foreground for photographs. The revolutionary war re-enactments on the grounds of the museum, and market goers are free to watch from the stone wall. Soldiers may be performing on foot or on horseback, and their colorful costumes make good subject matter.

Alpacas love their photos taken

The work of a creative fiber artist

Fiber cupcakes at the Coventry Market

Tips and Techniques

This is a busy market so it might be advisable to leave your tripod in the car and hand-hold your camera. Set it on shutter priority, and set the shutter speed as high as you can to avoid motion blur. This will give you an opportunity to play with the shallow depth of field that comes with a large aperture. Or you might want to use a point-and-shoot camera that allows you to set the mode. Try setting it on action for shots of people or dogs that might be active, or put it on the flower or macro mode for close-ups of fruits and vegetables.

Tourist Tips

Brick oven pizza made by hand for your enjoyment

Save your appetite for the market where you can get your lunch at one of the food vendors if you are so inclined. In addition to the food samples given by many of  the vendors, you can get wood oven pizza, hot Indian food, tacos and burritos, and even hot dogs and ice cream.  Enjoy your lunch under the shade of the tall maple trees while watching the live entertainment in the market. What better way to enjoy a Sunday afternoon!

Address

Nathan Hale Homestead

2299 South Street

Coventry, CT

Phone: 860-742-1419

Email: marketmasters@coventryfarmersmarket.com

Website: www.CoventryFarmersMarket.com

GPS coordinates: Longitude: 41.763452; Latitude: -72.345773

Free parking is available in the parking lot adjacent to the Nathan Hale Homestead. Just down the road a short walk to the market, parking is available at the Strong-Porter Museum grounds.

Hours:  11 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. every Sunday, from June through the end of October. 

 Musicians play every week

Spinning wool demonstration

Pink poodles and other pets are plentiful at the market

Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington

Seasonal Rating: Spring ****     Summer ****     Fall ****     Winter ****

Hill-Stead Museum is one of Connecticut's best known historic house museums, and is visited by many for the renowned collection of impressionist art which includes original pieces by Monet, Degas, Manet, Whistler and Cassatt. The house was built at the turn of the 20th century by Alfred and Ada Pope, in the colonial revival style. Their daughter, Theodate Pope Riddle, fell in love with the area when she was attending Miss Porter's School in Farmington, and convinced her parents to move from Cleveland and build their home here. An aspiring architect, she designed the 19-room home that her parents retired to, and she was later to inherit. The property includes several buildings, all designed and built by Theodate over the half century of her involvement. In addition to the house,  there is a stone garage that once served as a stable, a carriage barn, and an adjoining building known as the Makeshift Theater.

The house is set up on the highest point of the 250 fifty acre property, overlooking the Litchfield Hills to the west, and surrounded by former farm fields to the north and meadows to the south. Immediately south of the home is a beautiful Sunken Garden that occupies a one-acre natural depression. This is a formal flower garden that was designed in 1920 by Beatrix Farrand, America's first female landscape architect. Today it has been restored to its original grandeur, with formal beds full of perennials and annuals from spring through fall. The beauty begins with tulips in April and ends with a striking color scheme of blue, purple and white to complement the vivid colors of fall foliage.  This garden is a real gem, surrounded by hedges, eight foot high stone walls, and with a green and white summer house at its center.

What to Photograph

Colonial Style Architecture

While you cannot use your camera inside the home, you are free to use it around the grounds to photograph the mansion and the other interesting buildings, as well as the Sunken Garden and the surrounding property.  There are numerous buildings from the early 20th century on the grounds to explore and photograph. The mansion itself with its tall white columns enclosing a porch with slatted rocking chairs is reminiscent of George Washington's house at Mount Vernon.  The house itself has interesting lines, and in the early morning light it shines from the north side. The little caretakers cottage to the south sits quietly beside the meadow where the sheep meander from spring through fall. The stone garage, the carriage barn, the Makeshift Theater all surround the house, and provide many interesting nooks and crannies to explore and photograph.

Sunken Garden in winter

You aren't limited to photographing architecture here. The vista from the front porch of the house is beautiful, especially in the evening when the sun sets.  Watch for days with especially interesting skies for the best shots over the Litchfield Hills. If you love to shoot flowers and gardens, the Sunken Garden is a great place with multiple formal beds laid out in an octagonal pattern.  It is a good place to get close for macro shots of individual flowers, colorful tulips and forget-me-nots in spring, antique roses, fluffy peonies and lavender mixed with a variety of other blooms in the summer, and white mixed with various blues and purples in late summer and fall. There are also lots of possible angles to take overviews of the garden, or details with the summer house anchoring the garden, the sun dial at the south side, and the old fashioned white gate that leads out to the meadow where the sheep roam. With the surrounding stone walls and hedge as a backdrop (or foreground), the garden provides for a great shot even in the winter when the structures play an important role.

If you are prepared to walk a little, there are trails that meander through the wooded area to the east of the house just off the parking lot, where you might find some interesting birds and butterflies to photograph. A trail map is available in the gift shop.

When to go

Museum in winter

Spring through fall are the best seasons, but don't ignore the winter when the snow covers the ground. It makes for a very interesting place to be with all the white structures with dark green trim against the white snow. As in almost all cases on sunny days, early morning or late evening is the best time to go, with bright overcast days being the next best time to get good shots of the buildings without a lot of shadow and burnt out whites.

Directions

35 Mountain Road,

Farmington, CT 06032

860.677.4787

 www.hillstead.org

Map coordinates (for GPS):  Latitude: 41.721367, Longitude: -72.82752

Parking  is available free of charge. Follow the entry drive to the parking lot past the house. There is a charge for entry to the museum, but the grounds are free of charge.  The museum asks for a $5.00 fee pp for photography groups and artists who work on the grounds. Check in at the visitors center in the gift shop to inquire during open hours.

Hours:  Grounds are open sunrise to sunset daily. The museum is open Tuesday-Sunday 10 am–4 pm and is closed Mondays and major holidays. 

Southern view taken behind the house