Nancy Brant of New Gloucester said she doesn’t usually go to farmers markets to find produce and other goodies.

But now that one has come to Gray, not far down the road from her home, she’s willing to give it a try.

“I thought if there was going to be one in Gray, I was going to go,” Brant said, as she looked over the strawberry selection from Magee’s Pantry of Yarmouth. “I’m thinking plain or with whipped cream.”

Members of the Cumberland Farmers Market Association held their first farmers market in Gray June 18. Set up in the parking lot behind town hall, the market had 17 vendors, and plenty of customers, even as rain fell.

Another market will be held in the same spot Thursday, July 16, then again on Aug. 20, both 2:30-6 p.m. Then, beginning Sept. 3, the market will be held each Thursday at the same time through Oct. 15.

“These are kind of a trial run,” said Leslie Fitzgerald, marketing director for the group, which also holds popular markets in Cumberland, Falmouth, Yarmouth and Freeport.

The call for a farmers market in Gray has been steady, Fitzgerald said, but the town needed the help of an established organization like the Cumberland Farmers Market Association in order to get it going.

“Many of my customers would say, ‘Could you come to Gray?'” she said. Larger towns often operate the market through town government, but most communities are not able to do that. “Many small communities don’t have the manpower to start a market.”

Vendors last week in Gray sold a wide array of products in addition to produce. Soap, meat, eggs, berries, tea, plants and pastries were all available, and a number of local organizations, including Fiddlehead Performing Arts Center and a local online newspaper, had tables. The town office, historical society and library were also offered space, Fitzgerald said, in an attempt to give local groups some exposure.

“In Gray particularly, I wanted to try something different,” she said.

The association’s expansion into new markets in Gray and Freeport comes as farmers markets are getting more popular. Nine years ago, Fitzgerald said, they had eight vendors. Now they have 39 who offer goods at some or all of the 96 total market days held during the growing season.

“Now it’s green everything. Now it’s keep it local. It’s keep down your carbon footprint,” said Fitzgerald.

It helps that the strawberries are juicy and plump, and that a shopper can pick up just about anything they need for their cupboard.

For Brant, it was hard to pick out exactly what she wanted from so many choices. After getting her strawberries, she noticed the plants and soaps nearby.

“I’m debating whether I should go overboard,” she said.

Roxanne Magee, background, at left, of Magee’s Pantry in Yarmouth makes a strawberry shortcake for a customer at the first Gray Farmers Market, held June 18 behind the town offices. The next market is set for July 16, 2:30-6, in the same spot.