CHIMACUM — The Sunday vibe is where it’s at, said Shaelee Evans, the woman with the “Make tea, not war” bumper sticker.
Evans and her business, Goodness Tea, will be at the year’s first Chimacum Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday in front of the Chimacum Corner Farmstand, 9122 Rhody Drive.
“I really love the community vibe of it,” she said, along with the fact that this market happens in the heart of the town, surrounded by farmland.
Goodness Tea, which specializes in herbal infusions plus date-sweetened chocolate bars, is based in Sequim, and Evans vends at the Sequim Farmers Market every other Saturday.
Now she’s looking forward to joining fellow vendors in Chimacum, including several newcomers.
Creaky Knees Farm and Olympic Salt, both of Chimacum, and Wild Twin Farm, an operation run by three local sisters, are among the market’s 15 vendors starting the season.
“We have a little bit of growth … Last year the market over there was exceptionally small,” said Deirdre Morrison, Jefferson County Farmers Markets manager.
The growth stems in part from the Chimacum Valley becoming a welcoming ecosystem to new and young farmers, she added.
Morrison recently hired a manager for the Chimacum market: Pat Milliman, who has experience with farmers markets around the Northwest, including coordinating cooking demonstrations.
Morrison and Milliman plan to bring those demos back this season to markets in both Chimacum and Port Townsend. The latter farmers market, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays at Tyler and Lawrence streets Uptown, opened in April with more than 50 vendors.
Also scheduled to appear at the Chimacum market this Sunday and into the season are standbys Red Dog Farm of Chimacum; Duckabush Mushrooms of Brinnon; Pane d’Amore; Stryker Gooch of Stryker Forge, maker of upcycled metalwork from hairpins to garden tools; Mim & Poppy, painter Martha Worthley’s home linens business; High Country Doughnuts, which uses locally sourced fruits; and Godessa by Design, seller of grain and nut milks in glass bottles.
“Nash’s organic oats, made into milk and sold in a bottle, is pretty spectacular, in my opinion,” Morrison said.
“There’ll be a place to take food and snacks outside the market,” she added, since eating inside isn’t permitted.
As for Goodness Tea, Evans plans to bring her wares to 22 Sunday markets in Chimacum, all the way to Oct. 31, the last day of the season.
Her most popular blends are the lemon lavender tea, which has lemon balm for the nervous system; Sequim Sunset, an evening tea with local botanicals — and the Perfect Date chocolate bars. This treat has been known to outsell the teas, Evans said.
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Jefferson County senior reporter Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3509 or durbanidelapaz@peninsuladailynews.com.
