Farmers Market Season Begins this Week

The Northeast Washington (N.E.W) Farmer’s Market announced they are opening for the season on Saturday, May 2, at 9 a.m. Market organizers said visitors can anticipate many familiar vendors and activities along with new ones. 

This year, the N.E.W Farmers Market welcomes new manager Marty Bacon. “Marty will be managing both the Colville and the Chewelah Farmers Markets,” said Jennifer Sather, who is a local farmer as well as one of the board members for the N.E.W Farmers Market. “Marty comes highly qualified with a lot of previous experience.”

Sather said Bacon is responsible for market operations, setting up the prior-to market signage, and working with the vendors.

“Marty is pretty passionate and provides good service to the community.,” Sather said. “Even though he does both markets, he is able to keep the vibe of each market separately.”

The N.E.W. Farmers Market aims to create a space where food producers and artisans can sell their products to the local community. “The market provides opportunities to local farmers to sell their products,” said Sather. “We also have artisan vendors, but the majority are farmers. We prioritize farmers, because we do not want to have the market turn into just a craft fair.

“We always look at the artisans vs. the farmers. And we want to be cognizant of what kinds of vendors are there. For example, we don’t want too many of any singular item. Like, we don’t want six or seven soap vendors, or too many sewn items. Farmers are always welcome. We sell good local produce, honoring the history of what we have been doing since the market opened.”

Sather also manages the Market website, which will provide information on availability of spaces and vendor spotlights. 

The N.E.W. Farmers Market board is made up of six members and meets twice per year: once in the spring and once in the fall. The board addresses market operations and issues when they come up.

“We don’t have a lot of problems,” said Sather. “Most of what we deal with are insurance and permitting issues.”

The board also addresses goal setting and plans of action to accomplish them, according to Sather.

“One of our goals is to attract more vendors. The Colville location limits the amount of space available for vendors. We can only fit so many people. This season, it looks like we will have between 21 and 30 vendors. It could probably be even more, because there are some applications that have been mailed in but not processed yet.”

She added, “We have a great lineup of vendors this year. From wines to prepared foods, farmers and baked goods, meats and breads, and eggs and flour.”

The Colville location of the N.E.W. Farmers Market is located in downtown Colville on Astor Street and Main under the big clock tower and is open Wednesdays and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visit the website at newfarmersmarket.org for additional information.

The Chewelah Farmers Market is located on the northwest corner of the Chewelah City Park and held on Fridays from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.