My Favorite Farmer’s Market

One of my favorite things about Summer on Orcas is the Farmer’s Market. We spend many of our Saturday’s at the Village Green socializing, eating, and playing. Some days we have beautiful blue skies, and other days we are convinced October came early, but regardless, it is always a good time.

I set out last weekend to get pictures of my top five favorite booths, but then quickly realized that there was no way I could narrow down my choices. I ended up running around chatting with everyone as I helped to man the Children’s House Mayor’s Race booth, as I often do. The result was a dead phone and no where near photos of all of the amazing vendors. I may have to make this a series of posts about our glorious market, which would be just fine by me.

First things first. No trip to the Market would be complete without a trip to see Stephie. Our daughter LOVES Stephie. She is the local Face Paint Artist. She can make you a pirate, a panda, or as our daughter regularly requests, an Octopus.

Another favorite is Tai Carson of Rogue Soul Designs. She is a midwife-turned-jeweler and all-around great gal. Her jewelry is beautiful and she has a knack for hunting down fantastic fabrics as well. Someone snag up that green jade bracelet before I do!

The beautiful indigo you see behind Tai’s work is by miss Natalie Menacho. She is a peach. She not only makes amazing indigo dyed works such as hand bags, kitchen towels, napkins, and the like, but she also does branding, fine art, illustration and so on. She is a creative gal, and someone worth chatting with. Stop by her booth and say hello!

Another fan favorite in our family is the Lum Farm owned by Eric and Amy Lum. This spring they saved three baby lambs that were more than the mother Ewe could care for, and brought them not only to the Farmer’s Market but to my daughter’s toddler center. They are a wonderful community family, and a delightful addition to the Farmer’s Market.

One of the smallest booths at the Market has the most amazing things inside of it. Carla’s Art is all about Orcas. I dare you to step inside and not find something to fall in love with. She has notebooks, maps, cards, mugs, and more! She is a fascinating woman, and I am glad that she is sharing her work with the world.

And last but not least (for this post) is Orcas Island Children’s House. They host the annual Honorary Mayor’s Race for our lovely island, where we shamelessly buy our candidate in to office! We elect local animals to govern the small town of Eastsound, and we wouldn’t have it any other way. Children’s House is an island institution that offers a play-based learning center for waddlers, toddlers, and pre-schoolers. If you ever want to meet the sweetest, most generous, loving women in the world stop by the school or our booth this summer! If you would like to vote for Mayor, or support early education for our island kids in general, you can do so here!