Stock photo (©2010 Jean-Sébastien Marier)

With the freshly delivered red tomatoes, locally grown brussels sprouts, and baskets of apples displayed on its counter, stand 23 in the ByWard Market blends with its neighbours at first sight.

But a detail strikes the attentive eye: ‘‘Laurence & Lucien Cléroux (since) 1957,’’ claims a hardwood sign.

With over half a century of seniority under her belt, Laurence Cléroux, 71, is, the dean of the market vendors. She started her merchant career when she was 12 by helping her parents.

Once married, she purchased farmland with her husband and they started renting their own spot in the ByWard Market. Every single year since then, she has been serving customers from April to October, most days of the week. She has been doing so for 52 years.

‘‘It’s my husband who takes care of the garden, I take care of the market,’’ says Cléroux in her native French. ‘‘He loves his machines and tractors.’’ Lucien Cléroux, 75, who sports a John Deere baseball cap, smiles at her remark. He is visiting her at the stand this sunny afternoon.

Laurence Cléroux has an intimate connection with the market. Her grandparents also worked here. ‘‘They were coming by horse,’’ she says over the background traffic noise.

The switch from horses to delivery trucks is one of many ways in which the market has evolved over the years. There used to be a real collegiality among merchants, says Cléroux, a Navan native. ‘‘When I started, most people were older than me, and I think young people were friendlier.’’ She adds that nowadays, there is a lot of competition.

Cléroux interrupts herself now and then to greet a customer or bid farewell to a colleague.

An employee sprays carrots with water, releasing their sweet perfume.

Another thing changed since she started working in the market. Families used to be larger. ‘‘They were 8, 12, 18 (kids),’’ says Cléroux. Today, many farmers and merchants struggle to find someone to take over their business.

‘‘We were raised on the land, we’re used to it, but today’s generation doesn’t want anything to do with it,’’ she says. ‘‘It’s too hard.’’

Cléroux’s daughter, 44, has her own stand and also helps her parents with their production. However, chances are slim of seeing a fifth generation settle in the Market. Cléroux does not want her grandchildren to work as farmers. She would rather see them enjoy the chance to attend school.

‘‘I quit school before graduating to work in the garden,’’ confesses Cléroux. The rest of her education is self-made. She learned English in the market. ‘‘In school we had only 15 minutes (of English) per day.’’

The price of the land is also a considerable investment for newcomers. Her 15-acre farm — the size of about 11 American football fields — is valued at roughly $1 million, says Cléroux, her voice covered by the tam-tam of a nearby street performer.

In addition to her six months at the market while her husband works the land, Cléroux says they make and sell Christmas ornaments in November and December. They then enjoy a well deserved two-month break.

In March, they are back to potting seeds in the greenhouse. The Clérouxs don’t travel a lot. They went twice to Florida, but do not like travelling by plane. Her husband says that he does not need to go to Florida, Laurence Cléroux notes. ‘‘He says that he is spending the summer under the sun in the garden.’’

Cléroux will close her stand for the winter after Thanksgiving, but she has no intention to sell the land and cash in the money. After all, she concludes, the ByWard Market is her life.

This article is also available on The Graph Newsmagazine.