I grew up on the side of a highway in Massachusetts in a city called Beverly, which was, let’s say, much larger than Voluntown.

During my childhood, I learned that green beans came from a can. Cranberry sauce came shaped like the inside of a green bean can. Eggs lived in squeaky Styrofoam cartons. And butter came from a place with a lot of lakes.

We didn’t have farm stands. Or even farms for that matter, unless you counted Beverly Farms, on the east end of town, which only seemed to grow rich people.

As time rolled on, I learned eventually what a farm was and that there was a whole n’other part of the grocery store where these farm products were displayed – none of which were in cans.

Green beans are really these long things with stems and the like. Potatoes are these bumpy round things that sponge up butter and salt like nobody’s business. There’s also something called brussels sprouts, but nobody knows what those are for, only where they came from.

Still, back then, no one seemed to know where these fruits and veggies all came from. Then something called a farm stand would pop up here and there out in the woods of Rowley or Essex. Pumpkins would randomly show up in a little shack by the road.

It wasn’t until much later, after I moved to Rhode Island, that I heard of such a thing called a farmer’s market, where the farm sort of came to you.

Even then, this particular farmer’s market was in the city, which didn’t really help me connect the dots in that whole farm-to-table thing. Sure, of course I knew there were plenty of farms in Rhode Island, even ones that just grew grass. Weird. But it wasn’t until I moved to Voluntown when those connections really clicked.

The Voluntown Farmers Market happens every Sunday from mid-July to mid-October, right on the front lawn of the Voluntown Elementary School. To get there, 195 Main St. (Route 138), which you can’t miss by the way, I drive by three or four or seven farms. I can see the corn growing and some other plant-looking things right from the road. So for me, it’s really cool that when I get to the farmers market in town that I know that my corn came from right down the road. It came from, y’know, right there. Doesn’t get any fresher than that, really.

On a recent visit, I picked up some of that corn, and those long green things, but I also got to see a band play, The Moon-Spinners Trio, got to see the work of local artists, and talk to a fella named Frank Corrente, of Corrente Collectibles. He was there with a collection of vintage cast iron pans, which probably helped cook some of the veggies from these very same farms 200 years ago.

The Friends of Pachaug Forest were there as well. This group is a fixture at the market and they help preserve and care for the forests that surround all these local farms. The group offers all kinds of hikes, events and classes. For more info on them, go here: friendsofpachaugforest.org. Proud to say I am a member, though I need to hike more.

Additionally, I’ve found that Lake View Farm, Sisu Finn Soaps, and B-Z-B Farm, LLC have also been regulars, as well as the Voluntown Historical Society, which organized recently Voluntown’s Tri-Centennial Celebration.

So, if you’re looking for fresh fruits and veggies that aren’t shaped like the inside of a can, this is the place for you. There’s still plenty of time to head down before their last day of the season on Oct. 10, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information, check out their Facebook page here: facebook.com/VoluntownFarmersMarket.

And remember, that really tall green stuff on the side of the road isn’t just unwieldy grass, it’s corn on the cob!

Kris Gove lives in Voluntown.