Downtown Ellensburg will host the weekly Kittitas County Farmer’s Market starting this Saturday. Also known as the Ellensburg Farmers Market, this event will feature a number of booths selling produce and other handcrafted items.

Many vendors are already hard at work preparing for the new season, including the Anderson Family Farm.

Owner Rick Anderson, talked about his family’s plans for the market this year as well as the items they plan to sell. The Anderson’s sell a line of products made from goat’s milk.

“Lotions, body butters, salt scrubs, so it all has to do with body care,” Rick Anderson said. “We’ve come up with goat milk shave cream, goat milk beard oil, so we’re even coming up with a men’s line now.”

Rick Anderson credits his wife, Kimberlee Anderson, for developing the various skin and healthcare products their farm produces. They first started their family business when their children developed lactose intolerance 20 years ago. As a result, the Andersons switched to goat’s milk.

The Andersons have not always been farmers. Before starting their family farm, Rick Anderson worked for Microsoft as a project manager.

“About five years ago, I got laid off of corporate America and we decided, ‘Well what could we do?’ and so we started the business,” Rick Anderson said.

The farm the Andersons operate has been around for 10 years, while they have participated in the farmers market for five years. Rick Anderson said his favorite part of the market is

“Meeting our customers and developing relationships over the years,” Rick Anderson said. “We really enjoy working together as a family.”

According to Anderson, the Farmers Market has a large impact on the local economy.

“It attracts local vendors to sell to a local market… and because Ellensburg is so centrally located, we get a lot of folks from Seattle every week, or Spokane,” Rick Anderson said.

Senior psychology major Alex Wollaston works as the assistant manager for the market’s operations staff. For college students, finding healthy food and nutrition options can be a difficult task.

“My diet has improved so much from just getting quality food from the market … learning from the farm to table, and just getting to meet the farmers and actually knowing where my food is growing from,” Wollaston said.

Wollaston said, the market has evolved from past years.

“The best thing, especially this year, is we’re starting the EBT: ‘double your dollars’, so for anybody who has food stamps, they can come in and get ‘double your dollars’ through funding that’s being sponsored through local funding through businesses and through the community,” Wollaston said.

Wollaston also said the farmers market has plenty of volunteer options available to students and on-campus organizations. Service duties range from marketing, advertising and public relations.

Wollaston and Anderson both noted the variety of vendors and attractions coming to the market this year.

“There’s going to be a section down by Ruby that will have entertainment, a children’s booth and an educational section, so there’s definitely going to be some opportunities,” Wollaston said.

If any students are interested in attending the farmers market, it will be held every Saturday starting May 7 through Oct. 29, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.