MUKILTEO – Darren Wright sipped hot coffee behind his 14-passenger school bus, overlooking his table of lettuce and the sparkling Puget Sound beyond.
He grinned as people browsed his produce, which he sprayed with water to keep it fresh in the Wednesday afternoon heat. Nearby, a guitarist strummed songs amid the canopies outside the Rosehill Community Center.
Wright liked what he saw at the Mukilteo Farmers Market.
“It’s too early to tell how this is going to work out,” said Wright, 42, who makes his living from selling the crops he grows at his Silvana farm. “But I have faith in this market. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t.”
The Mukilteo market has thrived during its first month back at the Rosehill Community Center grounds. Last summer, the market wilted after just three weeks at a new location on Harbour Place, a dead-end street off Mukilteo Speedway.
Organizers were nervous the market might flop when they re-opened it June 6, said Diana Kushner, co-president of the Mukilteo Farmers Market.
The jitters went away immediately, she said.
“A lot of vendors showed up, and a lot of Mukilteans showed up,” Kushner said. “We heard lots of positive comments and it seemed like a big success.”
Whereas the market couldn’t attract enough vendors to stay open last summer, it’s now drawing up to 35 farmers and crafters each week, market manager Neil Landaas said.
Vendors are selling everything from fruits and vegetables to ceramic bowls to jewelry. People can buy pet supplies, freshly baked pies, even trees and shrubs.
The market is drawing about 1,300 customers each week, said Landaas, who also manages the Edmonds and Snohomish farmers markets.
The market drew about 700 customers and 20 vendors each week during its first two years on the Rosehill grounds.
“I’m pretty optimistic,” he said. “I think people in Mukilteo like good food, quality food.”
Many of the vendors had never sold their goods at the Mukilteo market until this year. Several former vendors opted not to come back, Kushner said.
The city gave a $7,000 grant for the farmers market to resume. The city also saved the market $4,000 by giving it free use of the Rosehill grounds.
“This has the potential to be a very good market, and the setting is wonderful,” said Adrienne Wertz of Snohomish Bakery, one of the first-time vendors.
Pam LaRoche of Lynnwood walked through the market a couple of weeks ago carrying tomatoes and a bag of Rainier cherries. She used to go to the market often, before it moved to Harbour Place, she said.
“I am glad we kept it,” LaRoche said. “It’s great to come down and get fresh produce.”
Tammy Quintanar, 46, of Lynnwood doesn’t spend much time at farmers markets. She recently stopped at a market in Edmonds, where a vendor told her about the Mukilteo market.
She came not knowing what to expect.
Soon after arriving, Quintanar – an avid pen collector – found a vendor willing to make a custom pen for her using a piece of scrap wood she picked up on a trip to Hawaii.
“This was a cool little treasure to find, someone who would do that,” she said.
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