Decades Long Friendship Blossoms at Greenwich Farmers Market

The Saturday farmers market in Horseneck Lot in Greenwich has been buzzing this summer, driven by peak harvests and consumer shifts toward local produce due to contaminated supermarket lettuce.

Greenwich shoppers seek verified local goods, and it is up to Judy Waldeyer, who manages the market, to ensure the “Connecticut Grown” logo lives up to its promise.

Organic CT-grown vegetables are popular at the weekly Saturday Greenwich Farmers Market in Horseneck Lot by I95 exit 3. The market runs 9:30am to 1:00pm. Photo: Leslie Yager

“No music, no crowds, no pets,” Waldeyer said on a recent Saturday.

Waldeyer, also known as the Judy the Jam Lady, is a steady presence in Greenwich over the years. Her display features jams and pickles.

Next to Waldeyer is Nancy Moore who is known for her unique herbs, succulents, heirloom tomato plants and perennials.

Starting in May when the farmers market opens, Moore sells vegetables, including squash and tomato plants.

In late August, she moves on to houseplants, perennials and Chrysanthemums.

“In fall I offer whatever is left,” she said. “Last year I actually quit two weeks early because everything was sold out.”

Moore and Waldeyer have been friends for decades. They originally met at the Trumbull Farmers Market in the 1990s.

Both are retired English teachers.

“I failed at retirement,” Waldeyer joked.

“We just hit it off,” she said, adding that Nancy’s son Richard had been very good friends with Judy’s husband.

Nancy Moore and Judy Waldeyer at the Greenwich Farmers Market. July 2026 Photo: Leslie Yager

Moore’s father-in-law bought 50 acres of land when he moved to Trumbull and gave each of his four children a six-acre plot. One of her brothers-in-law ran a farm dairy and grew fruit for a time, but Nancy persevered with the farm life, growing herbs and heirloom tomatoes in greenhouses for decades. Seven years ago she and her brother sold their properties and bought a house together on an acre in Shelton, which she said is adequate for her purposes. In the winter she uses grow lights to get seeds started.

Moore originally got the gardening bug when she was a young girl. Her father was an organic gardener long before it became fashionable. He grew vegetables and heirloom tomatoes.

She said her experience at the Greenwich Farmers market has been wonderful.

“I begged Judy to come here,” she recalled.

“That was about 18 years ago,” Waldeyer said.

On Saturday, Moore had two just tomato plants remaining at the end of the market.

“These are Brandywine tomatoes. They go back to Amish country in the 1880s,” she said, adding suggestions for their care.

“Take off the shoots, plant several inches in the ground. Feed it one cup of milk to three cups of water. Stir it up and give to the tomato plants once a week,” she said. “It’s an early gardening practice. They love calcium.”

Just before the 1:00pm end of the farmers market Nancy Moore is nearly sold out. July 2026

Nancy Moore’s tomato plants (above) after one week. July 2026

Moore said when customers have success with her plants, they come back and tell her.

“It’s very refreshing. And that’s not true everywhere,” she said. “I think it’s because they’re hands-on gardeners here. They come back and say, ‘I only buy my tomatoes from you because they do so well.'”

“It’s always pleasant here,” Moore said. “I said to Judy, today I have seen so many people today that I’ve never seen before.”

Judy Waldeyer is the longtime market manager at the Greenwich Farmers Market, but she is known fondly as the Jam Lady. Credit: Leslie Yager

On a typical Saturday in Greenwich, Waldeyer spots her regular customers.

“These two are honey people,” she said as a couple made their way across the parking lot. “They buy two jars of honey in-the-rough every week.”

Waldeyer said her pickles and jams are popular.

“It really depends on the week and what they’re looking for,” she said. “Most people know what’s on offer because they come every year.”

Customers often ask help picking a hostess gift, or seek advice depending on their recipe or dinner party menu.

Her booth is like a little gift shop with a selection that includes barbecue sauce, pickles, mint jelly, chutney, jams, relishes, pickled garlic, beets, applesauce, hot pepper corn and orange marmalade.

“The British people go crazy here,” Waldeyer said. “One customer was buying items to bring back to England. Another was bringing them back to Belgium.”

Greenwich Farmers Market in Horseneck Lot by Exit 3 is open through Saturday November 21 from 9:30am until 1:00pm.