Summer Loving at the Market

—Megan Lovely

—Megan Lovely’s forthcoming memoir, “Story Seeds: Growing Home at the Farmers Market,” has many more market stories. More information and exclusive content can be found at: https://www.recipesforcommunity.com/story-seeds-growing-home.              

— Photograph by Michael Caballes

Before I met my husband Mike in a Baltimore bike lane in April 2022, I dreamed of meeting my partner at the 32nd Street Farmers Market. “I would rather someone buy me a pint of blueberries than a pint of beer,” I once wrote in my journal. While working at Farm to Face, I would get my hopes up talking to a cute customer, then see their partner stroll up with a baby carriage. It turns out that the market is also a good date spot.

While I may not have found my love at the market, I have had the privilege of relishing other people’s market love through stories shared at Story Seeds stands, and to interview a soon-to-be-married couple that met at the market!

One community member was from Washington, D.C., and visiting his partner in Baltimore. He drew a coffee cup. That day was special because it was the first time they got to experience the market together.

A husband and wife drew an explosion of colorful flowers. They live in Baltimore County and come to the 32nd Street Farmers Market every Saturday. It’s a bonding experience for them. They walk around, try new foods like multi-colored eggs from Cat’s Paw Organic Farm, and hold hands.  

Another couple made a seed pair. They had their first date at the Baltimore Farmers Market downtown. The date was delayed because one of them was sick with Covid, so there was a lot of anticipation built up! It was so hot that day and the date didn’t last long. Now they are building their community in the Waverly neighborhood and growing their family.

Vernon “Marc” Rey, the late community liaison of the 32nd Street Farmers Market, once told me about a wedding at the market. They were two committed patrons who wanted their community to witness this special day. In 2007, they got married in the playground lot in the Abell neighborhood, just a few blocks away. The entire wedding procession then paraded through the market, people walking on stilts! 

Of all the stories I’ve heard, I have to agree with market vendor and board member Ryan Mohler that his meet-cute with his fiancée Hye-Song Lee is “one of the cutest meetings out there.” I had the joy of interviewing Ryan and Hye-Song over Zoom in April 2025. 

When Ryan met Hye-Song in August 2021, he had been working at the Little Paris Crêpes and Bakery vendor stand at the 32nd Street Farmers Market for more than ten years. His co-worker Mara was leaving town to work on a farm for a month, and had posted on the Peabody Institute group chat on Facebook that she was looking for someone to cover her position. Hye-Song, who was entering her senior year at Peabody, saw the post three weeks after it was first posted. 

“I was like, ‘Oh my God, I hope nobody took it.’ You know? 'Cause it was a really cool gig,” she told me. As fate would have it, the job was still open. Unable to find a bus to get to the market by 6:30am, she walked fifty minutes from the Mt. Vernon neighborhood to report for her first shift on August 7th. 

—Hye-Song Lee (left) and Ryan Mohler at Little Paris Crêpes and Bakery.

“Sometimes in important moments, I think time can slow down,” Ryan reflected. “I can remember the moment when I turned around. I was fiddling [for something] in the case and I turned around and I saw her. I'm not really sure if this happened or not, but there was the sun rising behind her. She looked like an angel. I was kind of blown away, but I still had to act professional. I can remember introducing myself, showing her what to do at the market, how to sell stuff. I was stuttering all over my words and I was so nervous, 'cause I thought she was so beautiful.”

“He was really nice and the most genuine person I've ever met. I felt like when we were talking…you know, the market's what, five hours long? Before I knew it, it was noon and we had to break down,” Hye-Song said.

—Story Seed have been created and collected over the last three years.