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It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Olympia Farmers Market. Hand-created gifts, food for locally inspired meals and seasonal treats are ready for you. Santa’s village has nothing on our well-loved Olympia market. In fact, he might even be making last minute selections at the Holiday Shopper’s Delight on December 22, 23 and 24. Lynch Creek Farm has supplied lights and greens for decking the halls, so get your swag on!

Olympia Farmers Market Has Crafters of Jewelry, Fiber Art, Pottery, Body Care and More

Mother-daughter business team Sarah and Audrey Silva at their candle booth at Olympia Farmers Market
Mother-daughter business team Sarah and Audrey Silva hand pour soy candles. There are special holiday scents that add to your holiday ambiance. It’s their first winter at the Olympia Farmers Market. Photo credit: Mary Ellen Psaltis

Every product is personal at the Olympia Farmers Market. Vendors spend time away from the Market creating an amazing array of goods to sell. A visit down the aisles lets you see, touch, and smell products, as well as chat with the artists. You could try on apparel from Trnka. Shari uses upcycled material for her remarkable fashions. Run your fingers over a gorgeous, wooden Baird Box. Hold earrings up to your lobes. Smell the soaps and creams.

Entrepreneur Audrey Silva, who is barely 15, and her mother Sarah own and operate Silva House Market at the Olympia Farmers Market. Their hand-poured soy candles are cruelty-free, sustainable, nontoxic, clean burning and all natural. The soy candles are not petroleum-based, so they neither produce soot nor put particulates into the air. There’s an impressive profile of seasonal fall scents. Special holiday offerings will include pure cinnamon, Christmas tree, gingerbread, sugar cookie, chocolate-orange and candy cane. Silva House Market can offer discounts on bulk orders for your special events and make customized labels. You could even have them make a candle from your own container. Stop by and inhale.

“I like time together [with family] for the holidays,” says Audrey. Candles are lovely on the table and fit nicely in a stocking.

“We love the Market,” says Sarah, who is looking forward to their first holiday at the Market.

Fresh Food at the Olympia Farmers Market

Burnt Ridge Nursery & Orchards's Annie J at her wine booth at Olympia Farmers Market
Burnt Ridge Nursery & Orchards’s Annie J can tell you all about amazing nuts and the many other edibles on-hand for your holiday enjoyment. Shop at the Olympia Farmers Market. Photo credit: Mary Ellen Psaltis

Remember having bowls of nuts out for snacking this time of year? It’s a touch of nostalgia for Annie J., who sells at the Burnt Ridge Nursery & Orchards stall. For others it could be a new experience. “I like educating people about nuts,” says Annie. You’ll find two tables of nuts at the Olympia Farmers Market, including Persian and black walnuts, chestnuts and butterhead, among others.

Burnt Ridge also makes cider and wine along with jams and its popular applesauce. Take note of the gorgeous kakai pumpkins with impressive orange and green-black stripes. You can eat the flesh as well as its remarkable seeds, which are great roasted for granola or snacking.

The stacks of just-picked berries are past, but Johnson Berry Farm has plenty of fruity ways to satisfy. The sage-cranberry jam, with or without habanero, will do something wildly wonderful to your turkey sandwiches. There are carry-on sized jars for people coming or going by plane. Share the sweet tastes of Olympia with any number of the farm’s award-winning flavors. Samples are available.  Jim Johnson will give you recipe ideas, and there are more on the Johnson Berry Farm website.

Even in late fall, I go to the Olympia Farmers Market for culinary inspiration. There’s still fresh produce to enjoy, including root vegetables, perfect for a pot of soup. If you don’t want to make your own, pick up a couple of containers from Mel O’Soup. Stewarts Meats can give you what you need for a meaty stew or barbecue. They sell bags of bones for broth.

a large selection of fresh-greenery wreaths hanging on a barn door at the Olympia Farmers Market
Wreaths and swags add color and aroma to holiday decorating. Find yours at the Olympia Farmers Market. Photo credit: Mary Ellen Psaltis

Craving seafood? There’s Sea Blossom Seafood or Sound Fresh Clam and Oysters.

Do you need delicious bread or a cookie? The Olympia Farmers Market does not disappoint. Meet the bakers here.

Browsing the Olympia Farmers Market may stimulate your stomach as well as your other senses. Ready-made meals, snacks and drinks from an international menu of choices are available. The restaurants include Los Tulenos, Pithos Gyros, Soba, Hey Day Café, Bavarian Wurst, Dingey’s, Curry in a Hurry and Paella Pro.

Olympia Farmers Market Special Shopping Days Just Before Christmas

people shopping the Olympia Farmers Market building with shoppers and a wreath and swag on top
Get your last minute gifts and food items at the Olympia Farmers Market Bonus Shopping Days. Photo credit: Poppi Photography

Remember that the Olympia Farmers Market is open on Saturdays and Sundays through December 18. The bonus shopping days are December 22, 23 and 24, and then things are closed until January. Downtown parking is free on the weekends, and it is always free in the Market lot.

A stroll through the stalls will improve your mood, if needed, and you can literally inhale the seasonal scents. Have fun visiting with artists, shopping their wares, and meeting up with friends. You can follow the Olympia Farmers Market on InstagramFacebook and Twitter or through emailed newsletter sign-up.

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