by Debby Hatch
Special to the Islands’ Sounder
A welcome sign of spring’s return are the posters announcing the opening of weekly farmers’ markets. To find out what makes these markets so appealing, I asked Orcas Island Farmers’ Market manager Charly Robinson and Lopez Farmers’ Market facilitator Nancy Bingham.
Fresh produce is one draw, they said. Local arts and crafts are another. But Robinson and Bingham both emphasized that the biggest attraction is the sense of connection and community that the markets provide.
“At the beginning of the season, people are really excited to see new produce,” Robinson said, describing the lines that form at the farmers’ stalls. “Food sells out in the first hour in early spring.”
“Tell people to get there early,” Bingham added, sharing a friend’s advice. “And tell them to be patient because the lines for the produce can be fairly long. But for something that is fresh picked that day there is no comparison.”
“There is so much variety at the farmers’ market,” Robinson continued. It’s an observation echoed by a Lopez shopper who advised: “expect the unexpected. Horse Drawn Farms will have purple cauliflower, purple potatoes, all kinds of things you’ve never heard of.”
“The farmers all love to cook as well as grow food,” Robinson said, pointing out that the market is a great place for shoppers to learn from farmers “how to cook fava beans, what to do with kale. One of the great things about a farmers’ market is the interaction between the farmers and the customers.”
And just as you can talk with the farmer who grows the produce, you can talk with the artists and crafters who are selling original work in fiber, fabric, wood, clay, glass, stone and metal. Clothing, table linens, jewelry, pottery, sculpture, toys as well as herbal and soap products are all starting points for conversations.
Describing the Lopez Farmers’ market scene, Bingham said, “Shoppers take their time, they walk around. There’s a feeling of spaciousness. There’s no feeling of rush and pressure. It’s friendly. Each week, in the moments before the market opens, manager Virginia Palmer figures out which vendors will be there and redesigns the market to eliminate empty spaces and create this very homey, carefully constructed place.”
Turning to why they took on their jobs, Charly, who has interned at several Orcas farms, said, “Managing the farmers’ market is a really great opportunity for me to help support people who have taken a lot of time to teach me.”
Nancy, who sells her pottery at the Lopez Farmers’ Market, remembers: “I would be so happy by the end of Saturday. Everything about it was good for me. And I could see that it was good for people, good for Lopez. So I decided to be on the board because I like to stand behind things I believe in. I believe it is probably one of the best things we have here: the market gives to the community and community gives back to the market. It’s a very positive thing.”
The Orcas Island Farmers’ Market is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. every Saturday from May 1 through October in Eastsound. Visit http://www.orcasislandfarmersmarket.org for more information.
The Lopez Farmers’ Market is open May 16 to September 5, from 10 to 2 p.m., in Lopez Village.
The San Juan Farmers’ market is open outdoors from April 25 to mid-October, 10 to 1 p.m. in the Courthouse Parking Lot. Visit http://www.sjifarmersmarket.com/ more information.
