Thursday farmers market funds garden projects around town

By OLIVIA KOERNIG / Whitefish Pilot

When a group of green thumbs got together in 1989, their main goal was to fellowship with each other, trading tips from the trenches and touring area gardens. They called themselves the Dirty Hands Garden Club and had around 15 members.

A couple years later, the ladies expanded their vision to include planting flowers at the Depot. The women wanted to do something for the Whitefish community, and keeping up the Depot°Os flowers seemed a relevant outlet for their expertise. Needing a means to fund the project, the Dirty Hands Farmers Market was born.

°()()We just took out an ad saying we needed vendors,°+/- organizer Joanna Barnes said.

From there, the weekly soiree has grown, and through the years, it has set up camp in no fewer than five different locations around town.

First it was downtown, then in the parking lot of the Golden Agers before heading to Pizza Hut and then Mountain Mall. And for the past several years, Pin and Cue has played host to the little market that could.

For its organizers, the Dirty Hands Farmers Market, which runs Thursdays from 4 to 6:30 p.m., is truly a labor of love. The club charges five percent of its vendors proceeds, which means that on rainy, windy days, it°Os not only the vendors whose pockets remain empty.A6P5°()()If they don°Ot make anything, we don°Ot make anything,°+/- said Ann Donahue, who has assisted Barnes and others for the past 10 years.

Last Thursday may have been one of those days. Barnes, a petite but spry grandmotherly-type, donned a periwinkle rain coat blinking as grains of sand whipped across the parking lot, slapping her skin and eyes. Gusty winds tore through the row of six farmers and crafters stands, twice yanking down an optimistic shaved-ice vendor°Os sign and intermittently sending other display items skipping.

°()()It°Os always Thursdays,°+/- she joked of the nasty weather.

Yet in spite of unseasonable weather and a rotating venue, the event has borne the test of time. This season marks its 17th year.

As the weeks wear on and the weather warms up, the now-skimpy market will fill out. The Polebridge Bakery will once again peddle its baked goods. Fresh honey will be on sale, and more craft vendors will come. Huckleberry and mushroom vendors have even been known to make a showing.

And while their goods are all different, the one thing all the vendors have in common is their Montanan-status. The ladies agreed to only partner with local vendors selling locally grown or made products.

Today, the Dirty Hands Garden Club has about 20 members and is always looking for more. They hold monthly meetings, listen to guest speakers and plan outings to area greenhouses for classes. Barnes and Donahue said the occasional man stumbles upon the group, but it mainly attracts women.

°()()There used to be some men who came,°+/- Donahue said. °()()But they feel strange being the only one.°+/-

By the end of this month, the market will have earned enough money for the ladies to begin planting. In addition to the Depot, now the club does the flowers at North Valley Hospital as well.

After that, if they still have money, they plant at the Hope Garden at Muldown, too.

°()()All the money we make goes right back into the community,°+/- Barnes said.

Once the flowers are planted, the ladies tend them all season long, weeding, watering, deadheading and liberating the wayward beer bottles that find their way into the flower beds. And while the actual planting and gardening may seem like work to some, these gals view it as a reward.

°()()We just like to play in the dirt,°+/- Donahue said.