The morning's weather (which vendors say usually ranges from OK to idyllic for the Saturday event) also keeps spirits bright. "We've got great stuff—the vegetables, the fish, the meat. The spice blend," says local John Boone, shamelessly promoting his UH HUH blend with a grin. "Everybody's very happy when they come here, particularly on a day like today."

Here in Stonington Borough, Connecticut, the sun blinks off nearby sailboat masts and lights rows of peaches, blackberries, and radishes so they resemble still lifes framed by fluttering canvas awnings. Sun-sprinkled, flour-dusted apple pie crusts beg to be broken into. Breads—topped with mosaics of sesame and poppy seeds and stacked on tiers of trays—look like exquisite artifacts on formal museum display. But there's nothing stiff or staid about perusing these exhibits.

In fact, a buying frenzy ensues as soon as organizers ring the ship's bell that signals the start of sales. Before it sounds, no one can make a purchase. So the whole town, it seems, lines up with feet tapping, waiting to check out and snap up the local goods. "Everything here has to be grown, caught, baked, or picked in Connecticut," says Rick Unruh, who coordinates the market for the very active Stonington Village Improvement Association. Weekend vacationers join the scene, grab a scone for breakfast, and idle at the picnic table in the lawn's center.

Way before the 9 o'clock bell chimes, vendors from across the state set up booths along the grassy park's perimeter. Capt. Bob Guzzo of the Jenna-Lynn hauls in plenty of cold-water shrimp, known as Stonington Reds, to meet demand. Someone at Liberty Hill Harvest sketches out the chalkboard menu. Linda Bell, of Flowers By Appointment, arranges the loose blooms bursting from buckets. Vendors chat as the crowd gathers. The Little River Bakery's Laurie Pribble says she enjoys the interaction with others. "I'm kind of cooped up in the kitchen all week cooking," she says.

As the line forms, ready for the bell, brother-and-sister entrepreneurs Kelly and Bobby Spellman stack their lemons and ready the stainless-steel juicer. Young as they are, they surely know it's not too often that seagulls circle overhead during a farmer's market. Their hometown's version blends the coastal grit of a fishing dock with fresh fare of every sort—all to create a summer pleasure as sweet as their lemonade.