Get Fresh!

Published 1:41 pm Friday, June 5, 2009

For city dwellers, walking through a local farmers market is like taking in a microcosm of Washington’s diverse climates and landscapes. You don’t have to travel far from your neighborhood to find handpicked cherries from Wenatchee, handmade cheese from the Skagit Valley, or fresh seafood from Hood Canal.

With the proliferation of local farmers markets in recent years, many vendors are now able to work a circuit and offer wares at multiple markets. Paula’s Pepper Jelly, Bautista Farms and Half Pint Ice Cream are among the vendors you’ll cross paths with if you frequent more than one market a week – and that’s becoming a more common shopping habit in our area as people seek fresh, local products to serve at their dinner tables.

The Edmonds Museum Garden market opened its 15th season last month for its late spring/early summer run on Saturdays in the parking lot of the city’s Public Safety building. Hosted by the Edmonds Museum, the Garden Market switches over to the full fledged Summer Market in July, which expands to approximately 125 vendors and extends along Fifth Street from Main at the fountain to Bell and east up Bell Street around Centennial Plaza.

The picturesque Garden Market, while smaller than its summer counter counterpart, nevertheless offers a bounty of fruits, vegetables, flowers, breads, cheeses, seafood, as well as a number of non-edible, handcrafted products.

Vendors such as Tiny’s Organics bring peaches, plums, nectarines and cherries from its orchards in East Wenatchee, along the Columbia River. Bautista Farms delivers fresh produce straight from the Yakima Valley. Willapa Hills Farmstead &Artisan Cheeses bring their fresh cheeses all the way from tiny Doty, on the Chehalis River in southwest Washington State. Seattle’s Half Pint Homemade Ice Cream offers fresh made ice creams with local dairy and eggs and other local ingredients.

Lake Forest Park Commons Farmers Market opened its fifth season in May, and is another vibrant, popular community gathering spot on Sundays. Located on the lower level of the Lake Forest Park Towne Centre, at the intersection of SR 522 and Hwy 104, it’s easily accessible by car, bus or bike – the Burke-Gilman Trail is directly across Bothell Way from the Market.

The market is a program of Friends of Third Place Commons, the non-profit organization that also oversees programs and room reservations in the Commons. The group also raises funds for the Market Bucks program, which provides coupons to local agencies that in turn distribute them to individuals and families in need. The coupons can then be redeemed at the market for food items. Food stamps and vouchers are also welcome.

An email newsletter, “FreshMail,” helps keep market shoppers up to date on the latest offerings of vendors from week to week, such as Wilson Fish, which is currently featuring wild King salmon troll-caught off the Washington coast and Annabel’s Garden now offering 15 varieties of peonies. Recipes incorporating food from the market are also featured.

The12th Annual Farmers Market at Country Village in Bothell opens this Friday, June 5. The market fits right in with Country Village’s 40 shops and restaurants that are tucked into landscaped gardens, ponds, wandering paths, picnic and play areas. Some 40 vendors populate the market each, offering local farm products and hand-crafted items. Live music each Friday also sets the mood.

Vendors include Paula’s Pepper Jelly, whose “flagship” shop is located in the Bristol Bay Gillnetter Boat in the village pond, and farmers and growers such as Canales Organic Produce, Martin Family Orchards, Snohomish Organic, Youngquist Farms, Lee Thor Gardens, Old Farmer and Xee Yang Garden.

The South County Community Farmer’s Market, located between Bothell and Mill Creek near Thrasher’s Corner, is a unique project of Park Ridge Chapel, whose parking lot houses the market on Wednesdays. “Do to others what you would have them do to you.” is the primary value of this market, which is unique in that it does not charge for vendor space.

The market averages 40 vendors a week, and you’ll see many familiar faces there from other markets previously listed. Popmaster Kettle Korn and Chocolate Affairs are among some of the returning vendors this season, which opens today.