SPRINGVALE — Wayne Thibeault of East Waterboro picked out several quart boxes of blueberries Wednesday at the Sanford Farmer’s Market.

“I can eat one of these a day,” he said, pointing to a box of dusky blue fruit from Rivard’s Blueberries that Annette Austin offered for sale at her table. “They’re the best I’ve ever tasted.”

Blueberries, raspberries, plump red tomatoes and a cornucopia of other fresh produce was available at the market, set up in the parking lot of the Springvale retail complex that houses Rite Aid and other shops.

Sanford Farmer’s Market, in its third year, sets up Saturdays as well at Gowen Park in Sanford, operating from 8 a.m. to noon.

This spring, said market manager Jack McAdam, the local farmer’s market board decided to spread its wings to Springvale, operating from 1-5 p.m. Wednesdays.

The market is smaller there, with three vendors this week instead of the nine or so that set up Saturdays in Sanford. Even so, those three ”“ Austin of Springvale, McAdam of McDougal Orchards in Springvale, and Gavin Maloney and Linda Grecco of Late Light Farms in Acton ”“ were doing brisk business.

It is Maloney and Grecco’s first year. On Wednesday, they were offering up green beans and peas, broccoli and cauliflower, kohlrabi and turnips and summer squash, along with suncatchers and hemp jewelry and Grecco’s blown glass.

While they have dependable business in vegetables, Grecco said she was surprised at the enthusiasm shown for her blown-glass creations.

Donna Grant of Shapleigh stopped by for cabbage, beans and beets.

“This stuff is great,” she said.

It seems folks across the country agree. A report by the Iowa-based Farmer’s Market Coalition says there were 1,755 farmers markets in the U.S. in 1994. In 2010, that number had grown to more than 6,200. The report quotes the U.S. Department of Agriculture as estimating farmer’s markets nationwide generating $1.3 billion in consumer spending annually.

And Lisa Fernandes of the Eat Local Food Coalition, based in Portland and made up of a number of entities from the Department of Agriculture to the Maine Organic Farmers and Marketers Association, said purchasing locally grown food, whether from a farmer’s market or farm stand, seems to be more than just a trend.

“There’s a growing interest in local food,” she said, pointing to buyer’s concerns about food security or reliance on fossil fuels to bring in food from far away.

McAdam was selling tomatoes, plump purple ”“ yes, purple ”“ peppers, cucumbers, and of course, Capt. Jack’s homemade apple cider doughnuts.

He said the farmer’s market is growing.

“I get calls two or three times a month from vendors asking to join,” he said.

The Sanford Farmer’s Market also accepts Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, McAdam said, and because of grant from Partners for Healthier Communities and others, consumers using the benefit formerly known as food stamps can get double the purchasing power. That means, for example, $10 worth of SNAP benefits would yield $20 worth of produce to the purchaser ”“ vendors are reimbursed the remainder through the grants.

The Sanford Farmer’s Market is expected to operate through Columbus Day.

Corn is expected to make an appearance soon, and early apples, too.

For one Saturday only, Aug. 6, Sanford Farmer’s Market will be at Central Park in downtown Sanford, rather than Gowen Park, to help mark the Summah Daze festival on Aug. 6.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 or twells@journaltribune.com.