Steilacoom Farmers Market Kicks Off Season With Flowers, Fruit and Friends

Some things are worth waiting for.

Among them, it appears, are the chocolate covered frozen bananas sold at the Steilacoom Farmers Market south of University Place.

On opening day Wednesday, Ken and Lily Acfalle were lucky enough to both get their treasured treat – hers with nuts; his without – as they wandered the tennis courts and surrounding area in downtown Steilacoom with their parents.

“They have been waiting all winter for them,” said their mother, Jessica.

The Dupont family comes to the farmers market every summer and made sure they would be there for the first day of the season, when gray skies couldn’t deter crowds of shoppers.

“It’s one of our favorite farmers markets,” Acfalle said. “And they really like the bananas.”

But the bananas weren’t the only food available for purchase at the market, which runs from 3-7 p.m. every Wednesday through Aug. 29. There were flats of strawberries from Spooner Farms; organic asparagus and cherries from local farms; natural, grass-fed beef; cinnamon rolls the size of salad plates; numerous varieties of honey and cheese; and free mini-cartons of Smith Brothers chocolate milk.

Other vendors were selling fleece jackets and Father’s Day cards; birdhouses and blown-glass hearts and gorgeous bouquets of flowers – some for a mere $5.

And there was even live entertainment, provided by Spot the Dog.

Pat Farmer of Steilacoom said that she enjoys the idea of being able to walk to a farmers market to buy locally grown fruit and vegetables. On her first visit of the season, she procured a bag of produce, a bouquet of flowers and a new canvas Steilacoom Farmers Market bag.

“I just want to support the town in whatever they do,” she said. “They’re making the effort to have a farmers market.”

Kathy Trotter, co-owner of PJ’s Sweet Factory, said that being a vendor at the market has the potential to be mutually beneficial.

“I want to support my community, and hopefully my community will support me,” she said while handing out samples of the homemade English toffee that she sells at her Dupont business. “Steilacoom and Dupont wanted a farmers market, and you have to have vendors if you want a successful market.”

Besides, she added with a grin, “I have a number of local addicts.”

David Rider of Blue Rose Dairy in Winlock said that he enjoys the social opportunity that farmers markets provide. He sells goat cheese at markets five days a week, including the famed Pike Place Market in Seattle.

“I love farmers markets and the different people I meet,” he said.

Bonnie Burns, owner of the Tacoma-based Designs By Bonnie, which sells glass-blown jewelry and décor, felt similarly.

“You get to meet so many interesting people here,” she said.