Growers going to market

A group of community-minded makers and growers are giving gardeners a hand in preparing for the upcoming season. The Makers & Growers Council is focusing its first market of the season on Everything Garden, with information on gardening, transplanting, bedding out and seeding and booths featuring pottery, fresh greens, woodworking, worm castings and gardening tools. Buskers will also be on site. The market runs in conjunction with the Diamond Valley Parade and Discovery Day on June 2 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will be beside The Westwood on Government Road. “If they want gardening information or they want to talk to other gardeners it will be a place to go,” said council member Evonne Smulders. “A really important aspect is the educational component – offering information to people. That’s part of what it’s about is sharing skills.” The council held a similar market a year ago with great success, said Smulders. “We saw a lot of locals and out-of-town people come through,” she said. “We’ll be offering pretty much the same thing. It worked really well. People liked it.” Different this year is the markets will run Saturdays rather than Sundays, Smulders said. A market will be held each month until October with a different theme each time. “We switched to Saturdays because we asked people how is this day for you and a lot of people really wanted to stay home on Sundays,” she said. “They said, ‘I would come more often if it was on a Saturday.’” Smulders said she likes how people come together at the markets. “There’s a lot of visiting that goes on,” she said. “A lot of people come just to see what people are doing and pick up a few things. It’s like trying to recreate the commons. That’s really vital for small towns.” Council member Berri-Lynn Levert said she also loves the community-gathering atmosphere. “All of the makers and growers could feel the great energy that this market created,” she said. “That’s what we wanted to do from the beginning was create a great energy of the Diamond Valley community coming together. The vendors really love that aspect of it. That’s what they said they loved most about being here.” The council also strives for sustainability, said Levert. “It’s about building an economy for makers and growers and getting word out there about people you could get to know in your own community that could provide the things that you need or want,” she said.