Squash, onions, leeks and other winter produce. Hand-painted ceramics. Dried flower arrangements and evergreen wreaths. Fresh-baked specialty breads.

These are just a few of the items that will be available at the Astoria Holiday Market, taking place at the Astoria Armory from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. this Sunday, as well as on Dec. 3 and Dec. 10.

The holiday market, presented by the Astoria Sunday Market and the Astoria Downtown Historic District Association, will feature fine art, jewelry, clothing, ceramics, pickles and winter produce from a lineup of nearly 90 local and regional vendors.

There will be roughly 65 vendors for each market, with the mix varying slightly from week to week, similar to the rotating lineup of the Astoria Sunday Market, which runs from May to October.

New and familiar

Many of the vendors are well-known names and faces from the summer market, but there are some newcomers as well, such as Autumn Higgins.

Higgins, who creates unique hand-painted ceramics, recently moved back to Portland from Minneapolis. She looks forward to expanding to the Oregon Coast and getting to know other artists from the Pacific Northwest.

“It’s a familiar type of experience, but a new experience,” she said. “It will be nice to branch out into the art community.”

For Higgins’ whole life, she said, “I’ve had handmade ceramics around because my grandparents did pottery.”

This helped spur her professional journey. She recalls signing up for her first ceramics class 20 years ago and being excited, thinking, “One day, all my dishes will be handmade.” Her graduate studies also focused on ceramics.

Higgins’ work includes mugs, bowls, plates, vases, butter dishes and ring holders that she paints with cityscapes, landscapes, animals, flowers and fruit. She creates everything on a pottery wheel and then uses an inlay technique to etch designs. She fills in the lines with a black stain and, eventually, paints on colors.

While she tends to do custom orders, fine craft shows and gallery showings, markets give her an additional opportunity to interact face-to-face with customers. When it comes to a ceramic piece, there is a value to people “being able to pick it up and hold it.”

“Hopefully it sparks feelings or memories of their own,” she said, and that “adds another level to their eating or drinking experience.” “Any handmade ceramic can do that because it’s something (the artist) put their heart into. It feels warmer.”

Sharing memories

Ashley Johnston, who runs the bakery at Blackberry Bog Farm in Svensen, also values the mindfulness and memory-making aspect of creating and sharing homemade baked goods.

Johnston recalled an experience where she shared a new flavor of scone — blueberry cardamom — with a regular customer, and they held it like it was a child. People will cradle and cherish baked goods, Johnston said, because they’re warm, and comforting and have flavors reminiscent of their childhood.

“I love what it brings out in people,” she said. “It starts with baked goods. It’s food. Scones bring people, everywhere, together.”

Johnston will be at the holiday market to sell pastries, breads, jams and jellies, pickled treats and coffee, while the farm also will have winter produce available.

Blackberry Bog Farm is a regular at both the Astoria Sunday Market and the Seaside Farmers Market, but this is the first time they’ll be at the Astoria Holiday Market.

As the bakery relies on using ingredients grown on the farm, Johnston plans to bring pumpkin carrot cake, apple treats, sweet breads and other seasonal items. She also is excited to share pulla, a traditional Finnish cardamom bread often served this time of year.

“It’s been fun to be getting into winter season,” Johnston said.

Connecting with community

For Zachary Peyton and Autum Christensen, who run River City Flower Farm in the Nehalem Valley, winter means adding lush, evergreen holiday wreaths to their customary offering of dried flower arrangements.

According to Christensen, the farm — which is rooted in eco-friendly and sustainable practices — has a few connections for sourcing evergreen boughs that would otherwise go to waste.

For example, one of their friends grows fir trees and gives them the bottom branches, which traditionally get trimmed for Christmas trees. Another provides the boughs he prunes off the specialty conifers in his nursery.

“We have a pretty amazing selection of evergreen,” Christensen said. “That’s kind of what sets us apart.”

Sometimes, she’ll add their dried flowers to the evergreen arrangements for a unique look. The flowers are also used for wreaths and bouquets.

Peyton and Christensen started farming flowers a few years ago to fill a need in the local market. Plus, Christensen says, “flowers are a lot more fun to grow than vegetables.” For about half the year, they offer fresh-cut flowers and then transition from fresh to dry when the frost comes.

They also tend to take dried arrangements to the market, as visitors appreciate taking home something that lasts longer.

“Everybody loves flowers because you get a dopamine hit just from looking at them,” Christensen says. “You don’t feed your mouth with them, but you feed your soul with them, and that’s just as important.”

River City Flower Farm has been a vendor at the Astoria Sunday Market for the past three years, and they look forward to joining this year’s holiday market.

“We’re just trying to get more well-known with the locals and people who value local products,” Christensen says. “It’s nice to have a community, and you get that with your farmers markets. Not just the customers but the other vendors too.”