Washington State Secretary of Health John Wiesman is on hand Saturday, April 4, for the grand opening of the Port Townsend Farmers Market.

The market begins its 23rd season with a goat parade, music and lots of new products and vendors.

“We're excited for the secretary of health to come because we're making such progress to ensure that fresh and healthy food is available to everybody. So we're happy to have him come out and celebrate with us,” said Will O'Donnell, market manager.

“In fact it will be the market’s biggest opening day ever with over 60 vendors,” O'Donnell added.

The market opens at 9 a.m. and runs until 2 p.m. It encompasses a block in Uptown on Tyler Street between Lawrence and Clay streets.

Spring came early this year, and our Jefferson County farms have full stands of fresh products: multicolored tulips by the bucketload; greens of every shade and shape fill baskets in all the farmer’s booths; and cartons of orange-yolked fresh spring eggs – both chicken and duck – are available by the dozens of dozens.

Harmony’s Way Farm of Chimacum brings mama and kid goats to walk through the market, the very same goats that produce the milk for their award-winning soaps.

Musicians Kristin and Otto Smith and friends follow with a mix of folk melodies on fiddle, accordion, guitar and banjo.

The parade moves slowly but doesn’t last long, so O'Donnell urges people to come out right at 9 a.m. if they want to join in. Early is always a good time to come to market since lots of products sell out by closing time on busy days.

Early morning shoppers are treated with hot beverages from Gypsy Coffeehouse and PT Coffee Company, pastries from Pane d’Amore and Dalla Notte, and bagels – either with cream cheese or eggs and pecan sausage – from Bob’s Bagels.

Every year there are new things to eat at the market.

This season the market welcomes authentic Spanish paella from recent Spanish transplant Alejando de Basilio, and local Megan Trenary brings her new food business, La Femme Boucherie. She’s making handmade sausages, house-cured bacon, and lots more.

Adam and Rebecca of Woodland Treasures sell mushrooms and mushroom products that they either grow, forage or both.

In addition to the return of longtime farms Red Dog, Midori, Finnriver, Nash’s, Colinwood, Dharma Ridge, Spring Rain, Serendipity, Willow Wind and Short’s Beef, this year the market welcomes back last year’s new farm, River Run, of Sequim, and the brand new Onatrue Farm off Jacob Miller Road in Port Townsend.  Max Lindert and family have all sorts of things planted on their south-facing sunny acreage, from greenhouse-grown baby ginger to tea plants. He’ll mainly be bringing starts and greens to early markets though, including boxes of microgreens and bags of cut greens.

Free tastes and samples are always available at the market from local cideries and cheese makers. Free samples are less likely from the many arts-and-crafts vendors, though new leather shoemaker Mike Ferguson of Sole’s Journey provides free fittings, and Tim Black offers free hand treatments for rough palms.

The Port Townsend Farmers Market runs every Saturday through December, including, this year, during Rhody Fest. For more information visit jcfmarkets.org.