Even before she was hired to run Salem Main Streets in July 2007, Jennifer Bell envisioned a farmers market in downtown Salem. Once she took the job, Bell found she wasn't alone.

The mayor's office also had designs on a farmers market, as did the city's Chamber of Commerce. And when Bell met with business owners and residents to find out what they wanted to see in Salem's downtown, fresh food was on many lips.

"A farmers market is something I heard everywhere I went," said Bell, director of Salem Main Streets, an organization with the goal of revitalizing downtown Salem into a year-round retail, dining and cultural destination.

Bell didn't have to look far to build a team of volunteers; they came to her. In the spring of 2008, Bell — along with Salem residents Alex Sutherland, Beth Paquin, Kristin Rodgers and Marlene Faust — formed a committee to bring a market to downtown Salem.

The group's work has resulted in the Salem Farmers Market, which Mayor Kim Driscoll will officially open in Derby Square tomorrow at 3:30 p.m. It will take place every Thursday afternoon until mid-October, so shoppers can sample a variety of harvests through the growing season.

According to Bell, eight farms have signed on to sell fresh vegetables, fruits, flowers, plants, honey, maple syrup, eggs and potted herbs. A fish market will offer lobsters, and a Salem bakery will bring goodies.

Also, many nonfood vendors will sell their wares, such as handmade soaps, lotions, silk scarves and earthenware ceramics. Added bonuses will be acoustic music, kids' activities and cooking demonstrations by local chefs.

The market — promoted with the slogan "Get a Taste of History" — is expected to renew the tradition of a downtown Salem farmers market, which first began 375 years ago. According to Salem Main Streets, the last market ended in the 1970s, with the redesign of what we now know as Derby Square. At its peak in the 1930s, the Salem market would attract an estimated 10,000 people on a single Saturday.

Bell has history with farmers markets: She often accompanied her mother on regular shopping trips for fresh produce, flowers, meats and eggs around the farm country of Lancaster, Pa., where she grew up.

"I have a lot of fond memories" going to farmers' markets, said Bell, who moved to Salem from Alexandria, Va., which also had a market.

Hard workers

All five women put enormous effort into getting the project off the ground, according to Faust.

"I was always wanting a farmers market in Salem and wondering why we didn't have one," she said. "Now I know; it takes a lot work."

As part of her role on the committee, Faust said she recruited farm vendors, researched other markets and communicated with the state Department of Agriculture. She also promoted the Salem Farmers Market by handing out cards around the city.

Sutherland, another committee member, said she found about the proposed market early, when she called the mayor's office to inquire about one. She was directed to Salem Main Streets, and she and Paquin soon met with Bell.

"It just seemed crazy that there wasn't (a farmer's market) in Salem — the demographics support it," said Sutherland, who grew up on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, and shopped at markets in the Bay Area of California, before she moved to Salem.

For Salem's market, Sutherland said she used her writing skills, communicated with farmers, helped to raise money and attended a conference on the subject.

Paquin — for her part — said she worked on logistics, research and designed the initiative's logo, poster and Web site.

The presence of a farmers market often influences Paquin when looking to move, she said, because it demonstrates community involvement and a conscientious population.

"It's the sign of the type of town I want to live in," she said.

Like Sutherland, Rodgers became acquainted with farmers markets when living in the Bay area, as a student of the University of California at Berkeley.

Back in Massachusetts, she frequented Appleton Farms in Ipswich, Green Meadows Farm in Hamilton and the Marblehead Farmers Market.

"Why don't we have that here?" she asked rhetorically. "It needed to happen."

Rodgers — a teacher — is responsible for children's activities, entertainment and nonfarm vendors. These peripheral activities — Bell said — are meant to establish the feeling of community downtown.

"Hang around and meet your neighbors," Bell said.

The market will also allow shoppers to connect with the people growing their food, she said.

"Many people may not realize how fresh and tasty fruits and vegetables can be when they're grown fresh from a farm," she said.

Maitland Mountain Farm

Peter Maitland has the shortest commute of the eight growers who will participate in the Salem Farmers Market.

Maitland owns a 2-acre property off Loring Avenue he refers to as Maitland Mountain Farm. He grows vegetables and keeps 16 laying hens which produce organic, free-range eggs. He said he'll sell the eggs for $2 a half-dozen.

"My grandparents are both horticulturists from Scotland, so I think it's in my blood just to dig in the dirt," said Maitland, who a decade ago retired from the Merchant Marine after 31 years.

"Being at sea all that time, you get back (and) you just love the land," he said.

With the help of his wife, Barbara, and four children, Maitland has farmed the land since 1976. He's expanded gradually and now grows tomatoes, snap peas, lettuces, swiss chard, broccoli, squash, zucchini, radishes and cucumbers, all of which he'll sell at market. He'll also offer handmade wooden boxes full of fresh herbs.

growers on hand

Gibney Gardens, Danvers

Clark Farm, Danvers

Maitland Mountain Farm, Salem

Green Meadows Farm, Hamilton

Long Hill Orchard, West Newbury

Simone Farms, Methuen

Wally's Vegetables, Haverhill

First Light Farm, Hamilton