From salsa and chips to owning a market: How a southern Utah couple supports local businesses

WASHINGTON, Washington County — Harry and Summer Altena sell homemade chips and salsa every Saturday, as well as local produce and yogurt at the Washington Farmer's Market — which they own and operate.

They have been helping other vendors grow their businesses through that market for the past year.

"We value those relationships and helping business owners grow," Summer Altena told KSL. "That's huge for us because we're also vendors. We know how hard it is to get it all together through the week and then show up and look good on Saturday with a smile on your face. It's really a hustle."

It all started a few years ago when the family moved to southern Utah from another state. The couple had owned several businesses during their 20 years of marriage, but when their daughter started making jewelry to sell at a market in Hurricane, they wanted to help her.

"We didn't want her to be at the market all by herself," Summer Altena said. "She was still young. We thought we might as well make something to sell, too, if we're going there with her."

The couple had this old family salsa recipe that they decided to make and bring with them. But what's good salsa without good chips?

"The recipe is like, 52 years old," Summer Altena said. "We ended up naming it Pop's Salsa and then my husband was like, 'Dude, you can't have good salsa without good chips.' So, he just whipped up a batch and put it in some easy, sealable bags and they sold out the first day. We were like, 'Maybe we have something here.'"

Now they operate out of a commercial kitchen in their home where they make salsa, chips and yogurt, using ingredients from their very own garden. The chips and salsa company is called Pop's Chips, and the yogurt company is called Dry Orchard.

Setting up a market came later, when they said that they wanted to create a community of happy people with dreams of selling items they created.

"We started a Wednesday night market at first," Harry Altena said. "It was a small farmer's market, trying to figure out another way to make extra money during the week."

"We always did other Saturday markets, and we were like, 'Oh, wow. How could we hang out with our friends more and maybe do our own thing?" Summer Altena added. "That's why we started the Wednesday one, and it just kind of snowballed into creating our own Saturday market."

This all happened while Washington City was working on revamping the downtown area, which was the perfect opportunity for the Altenas to create a space for locals to support locals.

It also opened up an opportunity for them to create a market vibe that they would like to see in more farmers' markets.

"A lot of markets are directed to adults and parents; it's all food and crafts and the kids are just dragging their feet," Summer Altena said. "We wanted a family-friendly vibe where parents could bring their kids and the kids are dragging their parents to the market."

The market has face painting, balloon artists and scavenger hunts, bingo games, and local musicians. It's also at Veterans Park, which has a playground area.

"People have been referring to us as the 'family market,'" Harry Altena said.

Another thing the Washington Farmers Market is known for is helping pets find homes. In fact, it partners with six local animal shelters at no cost.

"We've done over 30 animal events so far," Summer Altena said. "We have had 63 dogs and 21 cats that have been adopted through the market."

At the end of the day, what makes the market work is the atmosphere, coupled with good, local business, and the Altenas say they work hard to foster relationships with their vendors.

Daisy Mooy, 23, started selling her plant-based cleaning products a couple of weeks ago. She said the coaching and encouragement she received from the Altenas and other vendors helped her sell out of products her first week and keep that momentum through week two.

"I had this idea to do the farmer's market, but I didn't know how to go about it," Mooy said. "I heard about the Washington farmer's market and I decided to DM them on Instagram and see how I could make this happen. They made it super easy, and they just really wanted me to succeed."

The Altenas said that even as the market grows, they want to stay connected to their main purpose by continuing to sell their own products side by side with the other vendors.

"We're sweating and we're freezing and we're working right next to these guys," Summer Altena said. "So, we don't feel like we're above them just because we're running it. We feel like we're one of them."

"We are one of them!" Harry Altena added.

The Washington Farmer's Market is held on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m at Veterans Park in Washington.

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