Groton — While the outdoor season has ended, the City of Groton is bringing its farmers market indoors this fall and winter for the first time, city Mayor Keith Hedrick said.

Starting from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. this Saturday, and continuing on the second Saturday of each month through March, a “Pop Up Market” will be held indoors in the auditorium of the City of Groton Municipal Building.

Hedrick said the state considers farmers markets to be essential services during the pandemic, like grocery stores, and the market is an opportunity to bring home-grown, homemade foods and other items to residents at a convenient location.

“The City of Groton is considered a food desert and so this gives us an opportunity to bring assorted foods into the city so that people can have access to them,” he said. A food desert is defined as an area “where people have limited access to a variety of healthy and affordable food,” according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Fresh produce, seafood, breads, baked goods, infused oils, and soap made from goat’s milk are among the items expected to be on sale.

The move to bring the farmer’s market indoors comes after the city, under the umbrella of its Parks and Recreation Department, took over operations this summer of the outdoor farmers’ market in Washington Park and hired Meghan Akeman as farmers market manager, Parks and Recreation Director Mary Hill said.

The farmers market in the city had started in 2016, after Ledge Light Health District received a USDA grant to support and broaden farmers markets in New London County and worked with then city Mayor Marian Galbraith to launch the first market, said Cindy Barry, who is the health district’s senior program coordinator and served as the market master for two years.

Ledge Light partnered with Thames Valley Sustainable Connections, which ran and sponsored the farmers market after the two-year grant ended and continued until the market transitioned to the city this past summer. TVSC runs farmers markets in New London at Lawrence + Memorial Hospital on Wednesdays and Williams Park on Fridays during the regular season and extended the Friday market for the first three Fridays in November, ending Nov. 20, TVSC President Art Costa said.

After running the farmers market for this summer, the City of Groton received feedback from vendors wanting to know if the city could hold a winter market, said Hill.

“We have never done a winter one, but we do have the space because we have the large auditorium at the municipal building,” she said. With the hiring of Akeman for the farmers market, the city also now has a staff member to help with a winter market.

The farmers market this summer averaged more than 300 people a week, so the city also saw a need and wanted to continue it, Hill added. She also heard from some patrons who said going to the market was the only time they went shopping.

The city looked into the COVID-19 guidelines about what was and was not allowed and spoke to vendors, and they all agreed they would try it the second Saturday of every month November through March, Hill said.

Hedrick said there will be social distancing, mask wearing, sanitizer and wipes. Hill said that the city, due to COVID-19 restrictions, also will limit the number of people in the auditorium, which has a normal capacity of about 300 people, to about 75 to 100 patrons at a time, plus the at least 20 people working as part of the vendors. The space also allows for a separate entrance and exit.

Barry said she’s pleased the city is committed to continuing and growing the market, which “provided accessible and affordable farm fresh foods to thousands of residents and supported local agriculture.”

k.drelich@theday.com