Dedham Square Country Store features treats, sweets and meats

Greg Agnew had a plan – to pick up where the popular summer farmers markets left off and make sure everyone is still warm. All it took was a little patience, a lot of time and some elbow grease.

“I saw the enthusiasm of the summer farmers market and wanted to continue it throughout the year,” the 22-year-old said, standing at the back of the Odd Fellows Hall as customers moved around the room picking up breads, cocoa mixes and preserves. “We’ve been working on it since November with concepts, ideas, labor. It is an intensive project. It has been a journey.”

With new floors and a fresh coat of paint, the Westwood resident has worked with the landlords, Dedham’s branch of the Independent Order-Odd Fellows, on High Street to fit his needs for the indoor country market.

“Overall it had been late nights,” he said. “Going from work to here, to bed and then to work by 7 the next morning.”

Michael Froimowitz, building committee chairman for the Odd Fellows, said the market has been a perfect fit for the spot and the Square as “the farmers market is good for the entire community,” he said.

In its second month, the Dedham Square Country Store has seen a steady stream of Sunday shoppers looking for “all-natural, fresh, local food,” Agnew said. And with new local vendors popping up each week it isn’t a wonder why.

Manning the table closest to the door, Agnew’s father, also named Greg, makes a promise.

“That’s going to be the best cherry preserve you ever tasted,” he said to a customer, who ended up buying a case of jelly and preserves.

The senior Greg Agnew runs LemonThyme Farm in Hanson and said that he is his own best customer, as he eats everything he sells.

“I know what goes in them,” he said with a smile.

At the next table, Ed Lawton of Lawton’s Family Farms, 70 North St. in Foxborough, boasts that his cheese spread has a “non-processed taste” and a bite of lemon. Lawton said that the farm is one of five surviving dairy farms in Norfolk County and has been in his family for seven generations.

Continuing with the family theme, Dartmouth’s Ed Jacobs said his wife decided a few years back to follow her dream and start a granola company. With flavors like Fig ’n Nuts, Jammin’, A Choc-work Orange, and Mac Daddy, Jacobs says The Best Damn Granola Company’s natural granola is packed with attitude and taste. The Best Damn Granola is cooked in small batches in a shared-use kitchen in Dartmouth. According to its Web site, the Dartmouth Grange shared-used kitchen is rented out to local farms for cooking, cleaning and food preparation.

Perhaps the biggest draw of the afternoon was Arlington-based Best Friends Cocoa. In her “cocoa colors,” Linda Guttman, the “queen of cocoa,” said she doesn’t know why people don’t drink her product year-round.

“If people drink coffee in February, why can’t they have cocoa in May?” she asked while readjusting the display of Marshmallow Cloud, Raspberry Truffle and Cinnamon Twist.

Guttman said she once worked as a massage therapist and would offer the cocoa to her clients. Then one year when she went to place an order, Guttman said she discovered they were going out of business. So she bought the company. Six years later, her cocoa is sold in grocery stores nationwide. But Guttman is still the biggest fan, starting each morning with a cup of Cinnamon Twist, ending the day with Raspberry Truffle and filling in the gaps with a mug of Marshmallow Cloud.

She said the Dedham Square Country Store has been wonderful.

“There is no place in Dedham where you can get this variety,” she said, gesturing to the other vendors. “Everything is really top notch.”

The younger Greg Agnew agreed. He said he hopes the market, which will run until May and is open Sunday afternoon from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., will grow in the coming years.

“I can see this become a country store,” he said. “Not just a special event on Sunday but a destination.”

Dedham Transcript editor Andrea Salisbury can be reached at asalisbu@cnc.com or at 781-433-8322.