Farmers Market to close out first year in Willows

Glenn County's Certified Farmers Market moved back to Willows this month for its final markets of the season.

Memorial Park is the setting every Saturday, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Market Manager Claudia Street said the market is featuring student artwork from Murdock Elementary School on display to promote healthy eating and nutrition.

Fourth graders showed their work at the Sept. 4 event and third graders will be featured Saturday.

On Sept. 18, second-grade classes will participate and kindergarten and first-graders will show their skills on Sept. 24.

Teacher Jill Egley is coordinating the art, Street said, and bringing it to the market for set up.

The pictures are "really cute," Street added, and focus on healthy snacks the children learn about at school.

"One student did a picture of strawberries because that was their favorite fruit," she said. "Another student did every possible fruit or vegetable you can imagine."

Also on Saturday, a celebrity chef demonstration is planned focusing on local produce as part of the Network for a Healthy California.

The chef is recruited by the Network, Street said, as part of its campaign to improve Californians' diets as seen in TV commercials.

He or she will likely bring a prepared dish or dishes and give out food samples and recipes to interested market goers, she said. Bags with healthy recipe books also will be handed out to visitors.

Watershed Coordinator Liz Brackmann will present information on the Lower Stony Creek Watershed and other water resources at a booth there.

Brackmann works for the Glenn County Resource Conservation District and also will have activities for children to increase watershed awareness, Street said. Adults also will hear about community efforts to improve the creek's watershed including arundo removal and efforts to realign the bed.

She has activities like the "H2O Olympics," coloring books, visuals of healthy watersheds and a string demonstration showing children how water moves, Street said.

Girl Scouts Troops 70291 and 70321 continue to provide recycling receptacles at the market as part of the "Forever Green" campaign in celebration of the Girl Scout's 100th Anniversary.

The market has rotated between Willows and Orland since June - with Orland hosting it in June and August while Willows offered it in July and now September.

Planning for the 2011 market season will start later in the fall or early winter as the Resource Conservation District and market association gear up for better success.

This effort was started with a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that allowed it to move forward.

"We cannot believe how successful it has been," Street said. "It has been great."

Questionnaires will go out to vendors at the end of the season for input on how things went from their perspective, she said, and that will determine where the market heads next year.

For more information, call 934-4601, ext. 126.