PORT TOWNSEND — Organizers will celebrate the final farmers market of the year on Saturday with a poetry reading and a holiday theme.
The Port Townsend Farmers Market will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Tyler and Lawrence streets at the Port Townsend Community Center.
The last market of the season will offer a food and farming poetry meeting, ornament making for kids and live music by Aimee Ringle — as well as about 40 farm, artisan food and art vendors selling a variety of services— said Amanda Milholland, Jefferson County Farmers Markets (JCFM) director.
Most of the produce vendors will be outside, while other vendors will be inside in the protection of the community center. Unless it is potentially hazardous, the market does not close for bad weather, Milholland said.
The poetry reading will be snippets of “Wording the Land, Poetry Collection 2019,” which is a collection of local poems that was sponsored by JCFM with support from the Port Townsend Arts Commission, the Jefferson County Farm Tour, and Finnriver Farm & Cidery in Chimacum, Milholland said.
“Wording the Land” will be for sale at the market and the proceeds will be contributed to JCFM’s food access programs, which provide matching funds to shoppers when they use the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP/EBT) and other federal food assistance dollars at the farmers markets, Milholland said.
Milholland is proud of how the season went for JCFM at the Port Townsend Wednesday and Saturday markets and the Chimacum market, with over 70 vendors and weekly attendance reaching 2,500 in summer.
“The Port Townsend and Chimacum farmers markets play a vital role in our community as business incubators, local food hubs and community gathering places,” Milholland said.
“We brought people together through monthly special events, our weekly kids’ program at our Port Townsend Wednesday and Chimacum Farmers Market and of course with great farm-direct food.
“We are looking forward to our 2020 farmers market season, which will be our 28th season.”
The Port Townsend Farmers Market will reopen on April 4.
More information about the markets can be found at jcfmarkets.org.
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Jefferson County reporter Zach Jablonski can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 5, or at zjablonski@peninsuladailynews.com
