May Means an Open Market in Mount Vernon

The Mount Vernon Farmers Market opened last Saturday, May 19th. The Market opened at 9am at Riverwalk Park in downtown Mount Vernon and will run every Saturday until October 13th, totalling to 22 weeks. In addition to the Saturday Market, the Wednesday Market will open on June 6th at the Skagit Valley Hospital Kincaid Entrance Lawn from 11-4 pm.

This will be the Mount Vernon Farmers Market’s 31st year running and it’s fourth year at it’s permanent location at Riverwalk Park. In the years prior, the Market had moved around based on where it could be hosted, since it was so large and had many vendors location was difficult. This season of the Saturday Farmers Market includes over 55 vendors. This number plans to grow to about 75 vendors as more crops come to season. Shawna Mengle is excited to be starting her third year as Market Manager and has many of vendors returning from last year. She shares that in contrast to the Saturday Market, the Wednesday Market has 12-14 vendors and is catered to the hospital employees and families in the hospital who can’t make it on a Saturday, but everyone is still welcome to come on a Wednesday. Vendors at the Hospital location are mostly artisan and produce  as that is a practical need for the demographic. An example Mengle shared was, “We have a flower vendor that would stop by to sell flowers to a family with a patient in the hospital.”

In the last three years that Mengle has been involved in the Mount Vernon Farmers Market, she said the market has only been closed twice for safety reasons related to the weather. The Market has only closed due to heavy winds that could potentially blow the vendors tents, Mengle wanted it to be known that rain or shine the Market is open for business.

The Mount Vernon Farmers Market opened last Saturday, May 19th. The Market opened at 9am at Riverwalk Park in downtown Mount Vernon and will run every Saturday until October 13th, totalling to 22 weeks. In addition to the Saturday Market, the Wednesday Market will open on June 6th at the Skagit Valley Hospital Kincaid Entrance Lawn from 11-4 pm.

This will be the Mount Vernon Farmers Market’s 31st year running and it’s fourth year at it’s permanent location at Riverwalk Park. In the years prior, the Market had moved around based on where it could be hosted, since it was so large and had many vendors location was difficult. This season of the Saturday Farmers Market includes over 55 vendors. This number plans to grow to about 75 vendors as more crops come to season. Shawna Mengle is excited to be starting her third year as Market Manager and has many of vendors returning from last year. She shares that in contrast to the Saturday Market, the Wednesday Market has 12-14 vendors and is catered to the hospital employees and families in the hospital who can’t make it on a Saturday, but everyone is still welcome to come on a Wednesday. Vendors at the Hospital location are mostly artisan and produce  as that is a practical need for the demographic. An example Mengle shared was, “We have a flower vendor that would stop by to sell flowers to a family with a patient in the hospital.”

In the last three years that Mengle has been involved in the Mount Vernon Farmers Market, she said the market has only been closed twice for safety reasons related to the weather. The Market has only closed due to heavy winds that could potentially blow the vendors tents, Mengle wanted it to be known that rain or shine the Market is open for business.

The peak month for the Market is July,  explained Mengle, “Berries are our most popular crops and shoppwers know to get to the Market early. Our 9-10 am hours are very busy because they know our vendors can sell out before the end of the day.” In addition to the popular berries, the Market has live music from 10-1 that draws a good community of people together. Mengle describes the market as a “Great way to meat local farmers and see where food is coming from, people interested in art enjoy meeting artists, theres great food, cooking demonstrations and even free food! College students love free food.”

Mengle claims that the Market is supported by volunteers who apply online. These volunteers host the Market outreach table, answer quesitons, give Market tours, collect goods donated by vendors for the weekly Market Basket Raffle, and help tear down or set up the Market.

For any questions about the Mount Vernon Farmers Market, visit their website mountvernonfarmersmarket.org or stop by the Market outreach table on Saturday.