EN Valley Farmers Market: Open Sundays

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“I learned a lot,” she said. While Johnson promoted the market on Facebook and with some signage, she has increased the signage with business sponsors to help cover the costs.

Johnson also is planning to have an entry in the local festival’s parade and a booth at the festival to promote it. She’s also on the lookout for more types of vendors and has found a cookie gal to add this season.

Johnson has also urged another friend who is both a potter and a flower farmer, to participate.

“The Everson Nooksack Farmers Market is designed to be a community building event,” she wrote on her flier. “Our goal is to gather local farms and local artisans in one central location, to give mem- bers of our community a convenient and fun way to support these local small businesses.”

In addition to the farm vendors, which includes her own farm, Johnson has reached out to artists, food truck operators and people who do face painting and perform live music to appeal to all ages.

Johnson once cared for horses at the Whatcom Humane Society’s large animal shelter. It was there she met her husband, Mathew, who now works at Christensen Net Works in Everson.

While her former horse needed to go to another level of training – and now lives in Maui with a new owner, Johnson now gets to see horses at a neighbor’s home and has an assortment of goats, chickens, and ducks at her Everson area farm in the woods along a ridge.

The family lived in Nooksack for five years and filled its urban farm with as much as possible before relocating to the country before the floods. This location, she said, has not experienced any flooding.

When looking for what to name her own farming operation she turned to the name of the property, which was Sunset Ranch, and it became Sunset Farm. It was added to her business license.

The views from the ridge at sunset are amazing, she said and pointed over the trees growing alongside the hillside.

Looking down one side of the ridge is runoff of mountain snow water resembling a creek. Down another side is a steep incline to a space beyond the trees where she tilled her space in March for the farm garden’s vegetables.

Johnson is waiting for the frost to leave.

Savannah Flynn, who now focuses on the wholesale market, has worked with her to provide certain vegetables specifically for the market but Johnson will be the one selling them, she said. Flynn is too busy this year.

In the yard by her front door, she has removed many of the flowers and replaced them with more vegetables or edible flowers, she said.

The boys – 7-year-old Hunter, four-year- old Hawk and two-year-old Rocky – like to help with collecting eggs from the chickens and geese and washing them to sell and planting some of the seeds.

Johnson’s parents, who once lived in Whatcom County, relocated to Kirkland to care for a family member but still come up to bring their photography to the market and to occasionally perform music.

For anyone interested in being a vendor in the market, contact Johnson at envalleyfarmersmarket@gmail.com.

Also visit facebook.com/profile. php?id=100083289425340.

For vendors, other than artists, Johnson said she does require a business license.