PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Farmers Market will open its season Saturday.
The 33rd Port Townsend Farmers Market, at 650 Tyler St., will kick off early, with people meeting at the intersection of Tyler and Lawrence streets at 8:45 a.m.
At 9:05 a.m., following a group photo, opening ceremony and red ribbon cutting, a parade of dressed-up goats will walk through the market.
“The goats always take part in our kind of family photo,” said Amanda Milholland, the executive director of the Jefferson County Farmers Market (JCFM). “Then directly after the red ribbon-cutting ceremony, the folks who bring the goats to the market and usually some of their friends walk the goats through the market.”
Following the goats, as is tradition, musicians Kristin and Otto Smith will walk, playing music, along with the opening ceremony crowd, Milholland said.
After walking through the market, the goats will spend some time on the community center lawn, where people can visit with them.
“They’re really sweet and cute, and it’s just a funny tradition we’ve been doing for years now,” Milholland said. “I can’t imagine a Port Townsend opening Farmers Market that didn’t include goats.”
This year’s vendor list includes 83 farmers, food vendors and arts and craft vendors, including 12 new vendors, Milholland said.
“We usually have between 60 and 75 vendors at the Port Townsend Farmers Market on a given Saturday,” she said.
Additionally, the market currently has 28 nonprofits signed up for the market, a number which is likely to rise, Milholland said.
“There’s so many great vendors, it’s hard to decide who to focus on,” Milholland said.
Water Strider Woodworks is new to the market this year, Milholland said.
“The artist Milo Roland recently moved back to Port Townsend from having completed school,” Milholland said. “He’s doing really beautiful woodworking, a lot of really gorgeous cutting boards, wooden spoons and little boxes. A lot of it is using salvaged wood that he’s finding here in Jefferson County. I’m really excited to have his products at the market.”
In addition to plenty of farm vendors who sell produce, Milholland said the 30 farm vendors include flower farmers, someone who grows mushrooms and a sheep farmer, Shepherds Bounty, who will sell custom-made wool pillows.
“I really love the diversity that we have here of the farmers,” Milholland said. “I think it’s a testament to what this community has done over the years to invest in and support local farmers. Also, it is really a testament to our Jefferson County farming community to make farming a viable business here.”
Surrounding counties don’t necessarily have the diversity or quantity of farmers and farms that Jefferson County has, Milholland said.
“Part of that is that we’re rural,” she said. “We have this beautiful agricultural land, especially in Chimacum and Quilcene and other parts of Jefferson County. The market is a big part of that as well. A lot of these businesses have been able to be viable because we have a vibrant farmers market with people showing up to support them. They go hand-in-hand.”
In addition to produce, flowers and wool pillows, local meat and eggs can be found at the market, Milholland said.
“We have three different vendors offering eggs,” Milholland said. “We have fish and chicken and sometimes duck at the market. Spring Rain Farm raises some chickens and ducks and then Cape Cleare has fish, both frozen and canned and smoked fish.”
Milholland recommended that customers intent on getting a certain product should show up early, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m.
“Especially in the spring, when we’re just in the beginning of our growing season,” Milholland said. “There are certain things that there will be more abundance of as we continue into our growing season that are not as plentiful this time of year.”
Eggs are another product that could sell out, Milholland said.
“There’s a really big difference between small farm eggs, where the chickens are doing some foraging, they’re eating local greens and bugs and all of those kinds of things that make for a really nutritious egg that has a gorgeous orange center. There’s a big difference between that and an egg you get at the grocery store that maybe is getting conventionally produced by a caged chicken,” Milholland said.
Some people will call farmers ahead of time to reserve a carton, Milholland said.
Vendor contact information can be found, along with their attendance schedules and other information, by clicking on their vendor profile in the list on JCFM’s website.
New and old food vendors will be at market this year. New vendor El Rincón Romero will sell Mexican-style pastries, Milholland said. Sweet and savory crepes from little Little Spruce Creperie also are new for the market.
Sushi, salmon wraps and sweet and savory waffles can be purchased at the market, Milholland said. Customers can purchase coffee from one of two vendors, she added.
Among the market’s programs is a youth vendor program, which provide an opportunity for young entrepreneurs.
“It’s really kind of sweet to see young entrepreneurs trying out for the market for the first time, learning what it means to operate a business and provide customer service and what kinds of products people are actually interested in,” Milholland said. “It’s been really exciting to see some youth businesses coming back. A few of them are going to be at market for their third year. Some of them are new, for the first time.”
The market offers formal business training for all vendors, including onsite training for new vendors, Milholland said.
“What we offer our vendors is fairly unique,” Milholland said. “I haven’t heard of other markets going through the same process of business development.”
JCFM also maintains ongoing opportunities for vendors to develop their business, including partnering with bookkeepers to provide vendors with one-on-one financial management meetings, Milholland said.
“We’ve worked with the EDC Team Jefferson to provide a winter business training series this year,” Milholland said. “These trainings are all things that we have pursued grant funding to support that have helped us to make sure that businesses have the support that they need to show up and start a new business and be successful.”
Milholland said there are questions about the ongoing federal funding of food access programs. The market runs several programs.
“One of those programs is the SNAP match program,” Milholland said. “Through that program, we are able to double people’s buying power. When somebody spends $30 on their EBT card, they get a matching $30 in benefits.”
The market also has a Women, Infants and Children (WIC) Farmers Market Nutrition Program (WIC FMNP) and a Seniors Farmers Market Nutrition Program (SFMNP).
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Reporter Elijah Sussman can be reached by email at elijah.sussman@sequimgazette.com.
