HOLLISTON — Ousted from the Roslindale Farmers Market over produce sourcing, MacArthur Farm has set up shop just a short distance away.
For the past month, the Holliston farm has been operating a pop-up farm stand from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday in the parking lot of B&M Auto Service, 1942 Centre St., West Roxbury.
The pop-up is about 2 miles away from the Roslindale Farmers Market, where MacArthur Farm had been a mainstay for 36 years until market management found it couldn’t determine where the farm sourced all its produce. The farm has denied the claims made against it.
MacArthur Farm soon reached an agreement with owners of B&M Auto to allow it to use the parking lot of the auto repair shop.
“We don’t work on weekends and we have a big parking lot here,” said B&M Auto co-owner Bruce Lovely. “We said it was all right if (MacArthur) came here.”
MaryBeth Pavilonis, a regular at Boston farmers markets and a friend of Lovely’s, helped set up the agreement.
In June, she visited the MacArthurs at their Holliston farm at 137 Concord St. and told them she was dismayed the farm was no longer a vendor at Roslindale. She wanted to help.
“I thought it was a little unnerving and sad to see a farm get kicked out of a farmers market after (36) years,” she said. “So I asked them if I could get (Peter MacArthur) a spot would he come back to Boston.”
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Peter MacArthur said the new setup is great and he is thankful for the support from the owners.
“It’s a gift for me,” he said. “The way they act is like I’ve known them my whole life. They are well known in the community, and now the community thinks the world of them because they allowed me to conduct my farm stand business at their location.”
MacArthur said the new arraignment, for which he says he pays an undisclosed fee, is actually better than the one he had at the Roslindale Farmers Market, for several reasons:
- He isn’t as restricted in the kind of items he call sell.
- He is addressing a need in West Roxbury, because there are few, if any, businesses like his in the neighborhood.
- With more parking at B&M Auto, it’s easier for customers to stop by and pick up items.
MacArthur Farm’s pop-up stand will be open every Saturday until Thanksgiving, Peter MacArthur said.
He said there is a possibility the farm may be able to come to an agreement with the repair shop owners to have a pop-up stand in the parking lot year-round.
Cesareo Contreras can be reached at 508-626-3957 or [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @cesareo_r.
