Kent Farmers Market Popup: Farm to Table
Owner/Founder Joysha Fajardo welcoming new families at her first popup play and crafts booth!
I needed a space to reflect on my first popup crafts and play booth at the Kent Farmers Market and so I decided to start a blog. There were so many steps leading up to this day and I checked everything off my list but what I didn’t have on there was a family emergency at 4:30 in the morning. Thankfully, I was able to call on some friends to help me out and we set up just in time for our first kid to join us that morning.
I learned a lot from being flexible when setting up our booth as we had to move around after our neighboring booth set theirs up to making my flyers speak for themselves so I don’t take up too much time of visitors passing by. My first time was also very ambitious and so the next couple of popup booths will be more simple and definitely have more seating for the grownups since that is what we all needed that day to just hang out.
Some of our seeds lined up with pictures so kids can easily pick their new plant to grow.
As promised, we set up a craft table where kids can pick out a paper cup to decorate to their heart’s content. When finished, they poured some soil in the cup before picking out a seed to grow. The most popular seeds were floral like the Morning Glory, Borage, and Chives. Some families picked out vegetables for their garden especially those familiar with Filipino vegetables like Saluyot and Okra. The water pail wasn’t the best so it poured out too much water or sometimes too little but we just put more soil in there to remedy the overwatering. We sent home over 50 cups of plants that day and we are wishing all of them good luck so they grow really well this summer!
Our water table was popular with the toddlers.
Today’s play-of-the-day was the water table with wooden pretend fruits and vegetables that they can sort by color in different boxes. A lot of kids loved “washing” the produce in the water bin while others actually asked to put on an apron before pretend cutting. The weather participated by staying mostly dry and warm so the kids that splashed and liked to get wet didn’t get cold. Some parents allowed their littles to stay for a bit of play while other caregivers took the opportunity to sit in the shade so their kids can explore longer.
Thankful to connect with so many families that day!
We were lucky to be placed right next to the WIC booth and so a lot of families walked by us and those waiting in line had kids that had a chance to spend time in our booth! Having the popup at the Farmers Market was a great way to connect with local families in Kent and neighboring towns. There were lots of positive feedback especially the need of an indoor play space in our community! The popup also brought a chance for networking with local author, former musicians, and nonprofit organizers to collaborate for the families that can use all these resources. My friends and I didn’t get a chance to sit the whole time but we were full of new connections!
