On Sunday, Dec. 6, Grow It Green Morristown reopens what it calls Morris County's only weekly winter farmers market. It runs outdoors from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. every Sunday through April 25, 2027, except Easter Sunday, in the parking lot of the Convent Station train station in Morris Township. The organizers expect more than 45 vendors selling produce, meats, eggs, dairy, artisan breads, baked goods, honey, prepared foods and handmade gifts.
The location is the main reason the market is still running. Five winters ago the market's survival was in doubt because of what it cost to rent a site. A rail lot that the Township manages, leased for Sundays, fixed that problem. The lower costs and the extra room that came with that lot explain much of how the market has grown since.
The Market Had a Rent Problem
Before the 2021-22 season, the winter market moved between different sites in Morristown and Morris Township. In its certification report to Sustainable Jersey, Morris Township wrote that rising venue costs had put the market's continued operation "in jeopardy."
Its last stop before Convent Station was outdoors behind the Morris Museum at 6 Normandy Heights Road. Morristown Green reported that the market ran there from Dec. 6, 2020 to March 28, 2021. Each move meant a new landlord, a new layout and new terms to negotiate. A nonprofit running a market on vendor fees has little room to absorb rent increases.
What the Township Deal Changed
In fall 2021, Morris Township and its Environmental Commission signed a two-year agreement with Grow It Green to run the market at the Convent Station rail depot, which the Township manages. The Township agreed to handle plowing and site maintenance and to promote the market in its "Municipal Messenger" newsletter. Township Committee minutes record approval of a lease to Grow It Green for part of the Convent railroad station on Sundays, for the season from Dec. 5, 2021 to March 27, 2022.
The lease covers Sundays only. A commuter rail lot is built for weekday trains, so a Sunday lease uses the lot at a time it would otherwise sit unused.
The savings were large. Grow It Green's account in the Township's Sustainable Jersey report says expenses dropped 40% because the Township let the market operate without a venue fee. The bigger lot also let it offer spaces to more vendors. In the 2021-22 season, registration and weekly vendor fees brought in nearly $26,000. According to the report, the lower expenses raised the market's net income, which could then go toward Grow It Green's other nonprofit programs.
Comparing that first Convent Station winter with this one shows how much the market has grown:
| 2021-22 season, first at Convent Station | 2026-27 season | |
|---|---|---|
| Vendors | About 30 per week | 45+ announced |
| Season | Dec. 5 to March 27, closed Dec. 26 | Dec. 6 to April 25, closed Easter Sunday |
| Hours | Sundays, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. | Sundays, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. |
| Weekly attendance | About 800 to 1,000 shoppers | Not yet reported |
The season now runs four weeks further into spring than it did in 2021-22, and the announced vendor count is about half again as large. Both changes happened on a lot with room for more stalls, which the market moved onto without paying a venue fee.
Why a Train Station, Specifically
Cost was one reason. Access was the other. When Morristown Green announced the move in 2021, Grow It Green executive director Lisa Alexander tied it to transit. "One of the ways to increase access to healthy food at the market was to make it possible for customers to have transit options to come shop," she said. "With the support of the Township of Morris, this location is both accessible and sustainable."
The site also holds up in winter. Grow It Green describes it as flat, paved and wheelchair accessible, and reachable by train, bike or on foot. For an outdoor market running from December into April, a plowed and paved surface matters. Under the 2021 agreement, the Township took on the plowing.
The station also sits on the Traction Line Trail. The Morris County Park Commission describes the trail as a 2.7-mile path running alongside the NJ Transit tracks from Morristown to Madison, through Convent Station, with an access point at Convent Road. For anyone who lives near the trail between Morristown and Madison, the market can be the end point of a Sunday morning walk or ride. Grow It Green lists the trail as a way to get there.
What's on the Tables
The 45-plus stalls are possible because of the extra space. Grow It Green's vendor page lists farms, bakers, coffee roasters and food makers, including:
- Farms: Apple Ridge Farm, AquaSprout Farms, Chickadee Creek Farm, Glenmalure Farm, Haring Family Farm
- Bakers and sweets: Fleur de Sucre Patisserie, Barking Good Bakery, Luxx Chocolat, Cereal Dreams, Goana Delights
- Coffee: Abrusci's Coffee, Lakeborn Coffee
- Prepared foods and pantry: Oldwick Soup Company, Catalina Empanada Co., Paolo's Kitchen, Lara's Kitchen, Coniglio's Old Fashioned, Karma Krackers, Maha Granola, Bussin' Butters, Petite Ile
- Goods and services: Hudson Grinding Knife Sharpening, Jersey Artisan Co., New Jersiana, The Mountainville General Store
This is the market's posted roster, and who sets up on a given Sunday can change from week to week. The Township's announcement also mentions gluten-free and vegan options, and TAPinto's season preview lists food trucks along with the farm and artisan stalls. A knife-sharpening stall can make the trip worthwhile even in a week when you don't need much produce.
The Good Food Bucks Match
The move to a transit site came with a food-access program. Participating vendors accept SNAP/EBT, and the market offers matching Good Food Bucks to spend on fresh fruits, vegetables and herbs. Grow It Green explains that the program, run by City Green, lets SNAP shoppers double their spending power, and that shoppers pick up the matching currency at the Information Tent. When Alexander talked about transit access in 2021, this was the audience she had in mind. People get to the market on foot, by bike or by train, and SNAP dollars go further once they're there.
Before Your First Sunday
- Where to go: Grow It Green's FAQ places the market in Parking Lot 3 at 11 Convent Road.
- When: Sundays, 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m., from Dec. 6, 2026 through April 25, 2027. There is no market on Easter Sunday.
- Parking: Free, on a paved lot.
- Without a car: By NJ Transit to Convent Station, or on foot or by bike along the Traction Line Trail, which has an access point at Convent Road.
- Current details: The Grow It Green Winter Market page has the vendor list and the SNAP and Good Food Bucks FAQ.
This winter the market returns "once again" to Convent Station, the Sunday lot it moved to in 2021 after rent nearly ended it.
Sunday-morning routines like this one are part of what we look at when we help a family decide which part of Morris Township fits them, for example how far a home is from the station, the trail or the Sunday market. To talk through any of it over coffee, or to compare notes after your first visit, reach out to Margy and Denise at the DeFazio Flanagan Team.
