With all that the revived downtown Washington has to offer both visitors and home folks alike, Katherine and Bradley Barber noticed that something was still missing, and they plan to change that.

"With all the wonderful things Washington has, there's no farmers' market offering locally grown fresh fruits and vegetables here," Katherine said. "So we plan to open the Washington Farmers Market by early this summer."

The market will be housed in a building now being renovated just off The Square across from the old jail, at the corner of Court and Allison Streets. The permanent, indoor market will be open year-round on Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

The goal of the Washington Farmers Market, Katherine said, is to promote healthy eating, to promote local agriculture and tourism, and to have an opportunity to offer locally grown fresh vegetables and fruits. "We're looking to attract organic growers, bakers for fresh bread, people who grow fresh flowers, seedlings, and plants of all types - everything green," she said.

The market will also be an outlet for folks who always plant a garden and wind up with more tomatoes or zucchini than they can eat. "A lot of people grow tomatoes, but they grow so many they don't know what to do with them," Bradley said. "They can bring them to the market. If you have a little 15-by-15-foot garden in your back yard, and you didn't know what to do with all the produce, this is perfect for you."

The Washington Farmers Market will be open to all vendors, the Barbers say, who are the sole producers of fruits, vegetables, plants, products, herbs, flowers, eggs, baked goods, jams, jellies, seafood, honey, or other related products that they intend to sell at the market.

The farmers market will also be another draw for visitors to Washington. "Once we get the word out with marketing," Bradley said, "it will bring people to town, along with all the other places to shop. The Georgia agriculture extension service has published the fact that, for every $1 spent at a town's farmers' market, an estimated $2.66 is spent in town in other businesses."

The building they're renovating, which formerly housed an auto body shop, is getting a new roof, windows, and doors. "We want to make it fit in with the Court Street Livery next door, and make it visible and accessible from the back of the Fitzpatrick Hotel," Bradley said.

The Barbers see the market as offering a small business opportunity for gardeners from teenagers to retirees. "It would be a great opportunity for someone to grow something no one else does," Katherine said.

For more information on becoming a vendor at the market, contact the Barbers at 678-4335, or e-mail them at Washingtonfarmersmarket @yahoo.com.