THE MARKET IS OPEN every Saturday at 277 Pleasant Hill Road in Brunswick, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., May 2 through Nov. 7. BRUNSWICK-TOPSHAM LAND TRUST was formed in 1985 around the preservation of a coastal meadow and since has preserved some 2,300 acres of precious natural areas. Visit www.btlt.org or call (207) 729-7694 for more information.

BRUNSWICK

A rite of spring is happening this weekend as the Saturday Farmers’ Market, operated by the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust at its Crystal Spring Farm property, opens for another season.

This is the Saturday Farmers’ Market’s 16th year at Crystal Spring Farm. The land trust started the market in 1999 as part of its mission to promote local agriculture. It wanted to provide a low cost retail outlet where local farmers and producers could sell their goods.

The variety of vendors and bucolic location have made the market extremely successful, according to the land trust.

Three new vendors will join the market this year: Winter Hill Farm of Freeport will be providing selected meats and dairy products, Northspore of Portland will sell cultivated and wild foraged mushrooms, and Apple Creek Farm of Bowdoinham will offer grass-fed and organ- ic meats.

Early morning shoppers may want to take note of a change from prior years. Vehicular and pedestrian access to the market will be restricted to vendors only until 8:30 a.m., when the market opens.

This change is being made principally for safety reasons — to ensure the market area is free of pedestrians during setup while vendor vehicles are moving through it. It also has other benefits, according to land trust Executive Director Angela Twitchell.

“It’s pretty common for the parking lot to be completely full during market, so it’s really important to park cars efficiently,” Twitchell said in a news release.

Restricting vehicular access until 8:30 a.m. ensures market staff will be available to direct the first wave of cars and establish an efficient parking pattern.

“Out of respect for and in support of the efforts our vendors make to beautifully and efficiently display their products, we would like to give them sufficient time to completely set up before the rush of customers,” said the market’s manager, Jacqui Koopman.

Market management is making additional changes to reduce use of customer parking by vendor and market staff. The goal is to reduce the amount of time the parking lot is full and the associated safety concerns and congestion. Customers are encouraged to bike, carpool, come in their smallest car, and shop efficiently when the lot is full.

“Parking will always be challenging at this market, but it doesn’t make sense to convert highly productive farmland to parking for a market that runs four hours each week,” said Twitchell. “We just have to be as creative and efficient as possible.”

This year, the land trust is partnering with Brunswick Taxi in a pilot program to bring people to market without their cars. Brunswick Taxi will ferry market customers between several prearranged locations around town and the market for a very low fee, according to the land trust.

During the pilot phase, people will be asked to sign up in advance to determine demand. The goal is to develop enough of a clientele to justify running the service on a regular schedule during the market. Shuttle seats must be reserved ahead of time to ensure an appropriate number of seats. To reserve your spot, call Brunswick Taxi at 729-3688.

The market is open every Saturday at 277 Pleasant Hill Road in Brunswick, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., May 2 through Nov. 7.

BTLT was formed in 1985 around the preservation of a small coastal meadow and since has preserved some 2,300 acres of precious natural areas. Visit www.btlt.org or call (207) 729- 7694 for more information.