With five years of outdoor summer sales and growth now under its belt, the Main Street Farmers' Market in Washington seems to be flourishing.

"This year is our best yet, in terms of both area recognition and the number of people shopping here," said Steve Dettinger, market coordinator. "We have a wide range of great vendors as well as a wonderful array of musicians who volunteer their time to perform each Thursday afternoon."

However, when it comes to producing food crops and affecting the market, Mr. Dettinger said that the weather plays an important role.

"The long, wet, cool spring extended the season for a lot of early crops," he said. "On the other hand, the recent dry spell in August took a toll on some crops such as greens and lettuces."

As part of his growing practices and methodology, market vendor, Evan Verbanic, owner of Cherry Valley Organics in Smith, uses straw mulch around his crops, which reduces his need for irrigation.

"The recent lack of rain, however, has reduced the yield of some of our crops," he said. "Cool nights have also affected the ripening of our heirloom tomatoes, and the persistence of early rains has impacted our crop of cut flowers, which has been as much as a month late in some instances."

Another market vendor, Blue Bird Farm of Cadiz, Ohio, also has had issues with the recent lack of rain. Jessi Luber, niece of the owner, reports that many of the farm's fruits and vegetables are somewhat smaller and that the watermelons and majority of the squash are not ripening fast enough.

"We've also had difficulty getting some of our herbs like cilantro to germinate, and our lettuce has gone to seed earlier than normal," she said.

Audrey Wagers, of Wager's Apple Crest Orchards in Amwell, is another vendor whose crops have been affected by the vagaries of the weather.

Last year, a spring freeze destroyed much of her fruit crop. Afterward, the orchard was hit by a late frost, which marked up the fruit that remained. If that wasn't enough, a June hailstorm damaged even more of the crop.

This year, however, Mrs. Wagers has seen a complete change of fortune, as the crop is so good that nine varieties of the farm's apples won eight blue and one red ribbon at the Washington County Fair.

"At the moment, our fall crops are ripening fast due to the recent hot dry weather," she said. "We're also keeping an eye on our crop of Northern Spy apples, which ripen in October. We're afraid that if it rains a lot from here on out, the apples might explode from an excess of water, like they did one other year."

Another vendor that's keeping watch on the rainfall is Joe Skocik of Plum Run Winery, whose tasting and sales room is located along Route 40 in Malden.

"If it rains before harvest, the grapes are susceptible to bunch rot," he said. "The plants also pull water up into the fruit, which dilutes the sugar content of the grapes. If that happens, you can only hope for a dry spell to bring the sugar back up."

Despite the caprice of the weather, Mr. Dettinger is optimistic about the future of the Main Street Farmers' Market, which operates in the South Main Street parking lot at 139 S. Main St.

Organizers are looking around for a permanent home, and they'd like one in which the market could operate year round. This year's last day of operation will be Oct. 30.

Besides bringing fresh locally grown produce, meats and processed foods into the business district, Christine Gardner, Washington's main street manager, sees the market as an asset that attracts people into the city's core.

"The Farmers' Market, along with other groups such as the Artists' Co-op, Wash Arts and the Washington Jazz Society, has become an important destination that's helping revitalize the downtown area," she said. "Our next hope for Thursday afternoons is that people visiting the market will stay over for dinner, take a gallery walk, listen to a jazz performance or take in a play at the Off the Wall Theater."

The market is open rain or shine from 3 to 6 p.m. Thursdays. For information, call 412-926-0518 or visit www.washpa.net/FarmersMarket/home.html.