Farmers Markets & Eating Local

Helsing Junction Farm out of Rochester

http://www.helsingfarmcsa.com/index.php

Their Capitol Hill drop is on Thursdays at 10th & Miller or you might be closer to Madison & Union on the same day. Always a great selection of fresh organic fruit and veg plus options for bulk shares. And they have this!

http://www.krecs.com/helsing/

Beans beans beans! There are great quality local beans at farmer's markets.

You can make burritos, tacos, baked beans, hummus, or my favorite - Indian foods. You can make great tasting Indian-style dishes with local garbanzos, red beans, spinach or other greens, mushrooms, garlic, onions, tomatoes, some herbs, etc. I have never seen lentils at farmer's markets, but I know they are also a huge crop in WA.

I also like to make roti, which is super-easy to make. It just takes one ingredient - local whole wheat flour.

I love vegetables and I like to cook and experiment, but I also get into a rut sometimes of making the same things over and over. A few things that have helped me:
-go to my local farmers market and buy something I’ve never tried before. Ask the farmer for suggestions on how to prepare it. I also like looking around the market each week just to see what’s there and what looks good this week that maybe wasn’t there last week.
-there is an incredible variety of stuff from local farms: for eg, a trip to the U-District Farmers Market in summer or fall means selecting from numerous different greens, vegetables, herbs, berries, tree fruit…one week your salad could consist of butterhead lettuce, maroon carrots, snap peas and yellow tomatoes; the next week it could be red leaf lettuce, fresh sliced fennel, cucumber and raw fava beans. Or one week sauté patty pan squash with tomatoes and leeks, and the next week try zucchini with broccoli and shelling peas.
-a stir-fry can be varied: if you sauté your cauliflower in olive oil and fresh oregano, it’ll taste completely different than the cauliflower sautéd with sesame oil, fresh ginger and tamari. Or if you are going completely local, use hazelnut oil, fresh onions, garlic and/or fresh herbs from the farmers markets.
-check out the Ripe and Ready list at http://www.seattlefarmersmarkets.org/ripe-n-ready/ripe-n-ready. The list is extensive – you’re more likely to be overwhelmed with choices than bored! Try focusing on just 2 or 3 or 4 types of vegetables per week – you could do that for weeks and still eat something different every week.
-eating locally means eating seasonally, and different fruits and vegetables are available at different times, so enjoy what’s fresh and in season (blueberries in summer, apples in fall, squash in winter, baby lettuce in spring). Of course, lots of things are available for more than one season, so you can vary how you use things (put kale in your potato soup in October, or sauté the kale with garlic chives in early summer)
-some market farmers even print up recipes for their customers. One farmer gave me a recipe for greens sauted with ginger, garlic and chopped fresh tomatoes, which was a combination I had never tried before. To me, it was novel and delicious (and easy), and gave me a new ‘thing’ to add to my repertoire of food I can whip up in a hurry.
-get a good locally-focused cookbook – not to spent hours every day planning meals, but to get ideas or try something new once a week. Any decent book store (new or used) should have a good selection of cook books that focus on Pacific Northwest seasonal eating, with good, not-too-difficult recipes. I’ll thumb through a book, find a recipe that sounds good and uses what’s in season at the farmers markets AND is different than what I always do…make a batch of it and then I have something new and good to eat for lunch for the next few days.
-ask friends what their favorite easy vegetarian recipe is; get ideas from other people.
Hope that helps!

Hi Megan,

How wonderful you are planning to eat only local foods for a month. We help customers with this all the time. I suggest visiting our Queen Anne or Burien store and we can walk you through how to achieve this goal. We also have a full menu online and we can ship our meals direct to you if you are not near one of our stores. http://eatlocalonline.com

We have a large selection of local meals. You can choose from Farro Salad to Squash Lasagna. We make everything from scratch (including the pasta and our stocks) with local ingredients. If you are in the mood to cook yourself we have the ingredients in our store from local farms such as cheeses, wheat, nuts, beans and a whole selection of other essential items.

I read you are vegetarian but if you ever need to entertain non-vegetarians we have a selection of local chicken, grass fed meats and sustainably caught fish.

I am a big supporter of eating more local foods as it helps the local economy, taste better as the food is not traveling as far and it reduces your carbon foot print. Another thing we do at Eat Local is we also buy heirloom and heritage varieties which further increases the diversity in our food system and again tastes great. I think you will enjoy how diverse your diet will become and how interesting it is to eat seasonally and to learn more about what we grow here in the northwest.

Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help with your journey.

Thanks,

Greg Conner, Owner Eat Local

Oxbow Farm is really great. We've used them for years. The pick up is at the Friday Madison Valley farmer's market.

http://www.oxbow.org

I can also recommend La Boucherie on Vashon Island. The food is excellent and a day trip to Vashon is always a great experience. You can also buy many of their items to take home with you. Perfect for a summer weekend.

http://seabreezefarm.net/la_boucherie.html

Greg Conner, Owner Eat Local

The market managers absolutely can (and should) kick him out of the market. The fact that they are aware of the issue and haven't already done so probably means this is a longtime and popular vendor, and they are trying to balance customer demand with bad behavior. One of the basic rules (there are MANY, and they vary by market) for anyone selling anything at a farmers market is properly labeling products. If you can prove that the product was mislabeled, they would have hard evidence of a violation. While I realize this isn't the most concerning infraction, it might be the easiest to prove. If this was indeed at the Madrona Market, I would try contacting the Seattle markets via email or phone and see what they can do. The behind the scenes organizers may not know about the issue and may have more power to remove a vendor. Here's the link for all the contact info -

http://www.fremontmarket.com/contactMay.html

And the rules -

http://ballardfarmersmarket.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/sfma2010applicationpack.pdf

The markets are very selective about who they let in, so they really ought to be just as picky about who stays. There are many vendors who would be willing to fill their spot. Oh, and to answer your actual question, of course you should take it! Spend it anywhere but at this asshole's booth. Good luck.

I got great advice on this question a while back http://questionland.com/questions/4668-i-want-to-join-a-csa-has-anyone-had-a-good-experience-with-one and ended up going with Terra Organics. They have lots of options that are easy to manage online, they deliver to my house, and I'm really happy with the quality of the produce I've received.

i've done full circle for the past three years. always good times and good food.

http://fullcirclefarm.com/index.html?fbid=eqs1uyLd8Sb

3 pickup sites on the hill.

Thursdays, 3 to 7 PM Broadway near East Roy Street

Tuesdays, 3 to 7 PM East Valley Street near 24th Avenue East

Thursdays, 3 to 7 PM 19th Ave E between E Thomas St and E Republican St

Hi Jenna,

Eat Local is a pick up point for Tiny's Organic at our Queen Anne store and our Burien store. I personally get a Tinys bag and think they are fantastic. If your deciding factor is fruit they are the CSA for you as they have quite a lot of fruit in their bags. Our customers who get a bag are quite happy. Let me know if I can answer any other questions.

Thanks,

Greg Conner, Owner Eat Local

You might also try directly contacting the organizers or organizing body of this market and tell them what happened.
In King County and in fact throughout Washington State, there are numerous different, independent organizations that operate farmers markets. Some are non-profit, some are for-profit, some are volunteer, some are city or government-run...there are numerous models for farmers market organization, and organizers are free to operate as they wish, and to include whatever types of vendors they wish to (eg., crafts or no crafts, organic or not, etc). That being said, thanks to the long-time work of some active market organizers, there are more standards and rules in place than in the past. The Washington State Farmers Market Association has some information on standards and rules for farmers markets in King County and Washington State (http://www.wafarmersmarkets.com/resources/wsfma-Rootsmemberguidelines.html), as does the Puget Sound Fresh website (http://www.pugetsoundfresh.org/farmers_markets.htm). You might also check out this article on the Farmers Market Coalition website: http://farmersmarketcoalition.org/definition-task-force-announcement/

I'm with the other commenters, it blows my mind that the farmers market doesn't have a policy in place to kick out crappy vendors. But, yeah, take the $20. Maybe if they're forced to hand out enough coupons, they'll have to change their policies.

I'd also look into reviewing/rating this farmers market and vendor at various points around the Internet. Other people deserve to be warned or know they're not alone if they face this same crap.

Where are you? I don't even know of a friday farmers market in Seattle.

Holy Mackerel! That sounds like one outspoken crabby old fishwife - (perhaps you're secretly a french king...?) *

The guy is truly being a dishonest little tuna pimp? Call the vice squad on that Fishmonger!

So what was the crime specifically:
Was he trying to pass off his cod piece for a fullsized chub?
Or was he mispricing just for the halibut?

Imagine the nerve, trying to mussel you / get roughy with you...

(Sorry. *sheepish grin* But seriously, call the cops if a vendor tries this)
*
(wiki: In many countries, the fishwife was proverbial for her sharp tongue and outspoken speech. In Medieval France, the ones in Paris were known for their special privilege of being able to speak frankly to the King himself, when he ventured into the marketplace, and voice criticism without fear of punishment.)

Take, but keep calling the guy out every weekend if the mislabeling persists. Perhaps you could make a cottage industry out of collecting $20 gift certificates from the reticent (cowardly) staff. If the guy actually hits you, so much the better.

You should take it. If you don't want it you can give it to me :)

That is absolutely RIDICULOUS though. I'm shocked that there isn't some sort of farmers market "code of conduct" in place to deter this type of shit. A repeatedly nasty vendor could have a seriously negative impact on how people view that particular market.

Can I ask what was mislabeled?

Because they're farmers markets, not craft fairs.

I'm the first one to say I prefer the mixed markets, like Ballard, that have food producers AND crafts. But I go there for the food, and I like to see the majority of the vendors selling that. I think most customers do.

But I do have to disagree with the person who said crafts vendors were crowding out the food vendors. The big markets--the ones that have all the vendors they can hold, and a waiting list besides--generally have a quota on non-food vendors, so nobody is taking anybody's space. They will never have more than a limited percentage of craft vendors. And a lot of the smaller markets are doing good to have the handful of vendors they have--nobody is crowding anyone out because they aren't turning anybody away.

Waitwaitwait, he was selling something that was labeled as something else... in a fish market?

Ohdeargodinheaven please tell me you swooped on the perfect opportunity to say "Wait a second, something fishy is afoot..." or some related comment.

I recommend Than Son Tofu on 12th between Fir and Yesler. I've been buying there periodically for seven years.

Not all Seattle open markets are exclusively for farms/produce, etc. Check out Ballard's Sunday market-most of the sellers are farms, but there are also small food manufacturers/producers (honey, baked items) and some crafts. Also, just because you're not invited doesn't mean you're discriminated against. The farmers market organizers probably wouldn't let a chiropractor set up a free check-your-crooked-spine booth either. It's a market for farmers, not an everyone-but-crafters market.

As a farmers market customer, I have to say that I go there for farm produce, not crafts. Crafts just take up space that should be filled with food. Neighborhood markets are small enough as it is, without giving up all the food space.

Note that I'm old and thus associate market-stall crafts with horrible bong-and-tooled-leather-belt stinky-hippie crafts, not the modern wave of Etsy-styled punk rock crafts, which are perhaps not quite as irritating. But still, I think they need their own venues.

The NFMA's mission has always been to to support Washington’s small farms by providing effective direct sales sites (farmers markets), and by educating consumers about local farm products and the benefits of buying direct from local farmers. Ultimately, we exist to help make sure that our small local farms continue to exist. We are certainly not opposed to local artist and I think, as individuals, we all appreciated them, but it is simply not our focus as an organization to support them. We are lucky to have enough local food producers to fill our market sites and already have to turn away quite a few each year for lack of space. Craft markets can be great community events for artists and consumers alike, but serve a different purpose than our food markets.

Starting a farmers market and maintaining the level of success necessary to keep both farmers and shoppers coming can be very difficult. This has become especially true lately as we've seen the negative effects of farmers market saturation (i.e. too many markets on the same day or within close proximity to one another, so none are doing as well as they need to be). As a city, we may need to wait until our core group of committed farmers market shoppers grows before we can ask our local farmers to spread out any thinner. In any case, there are a couple of great resources that can help you figure out everything you need to start a market. Check out the Washington State Farmers Market Manual available on the WA State Farmers Market Association website (www.wafarmersmarkets.com) under "Resource Center". Also, the National Farmers Market Coalition as a ton of great resources about everything from canopy safety to product integrity to how to accept food stamps at markets (www.farmersmarketcoalition.org).

Look at Dog Mountain Farm in Carnation. It's a working farm that hosts Farm Dinners with various chefs. The dinners run through mid-Sept. From their website, "You are invited to join us for a delicious, seasonal meal prepared by local chefs. Offered on Saturdays, June through September, enjoy a genuine farm-to-table dining experience. The multi-course meal will highlight produce from Dog Mountain Farm and other local producers of quality meat and cheese." http://www.dogmtnfarm.com/farm%20dinner.htm

if you live north of downtown, at the oak tree market at 100th in greenwood there is locally-made tofu in a refrigerator cabinet by the produce (as you enter it's at the back left of the store). they have a few deep-fried options too which, well, that should speak for itself.

Rising Produce on King Street stocks tofu that's made just up the hill on 12th Avenue near Alder. I can't remember the name of the place, but it usually comes wrapped in plastic wrap. I've heard you can walk into the factory on 12th and buy it there, too. The tofu is good, and I think they also sell it cut and fried. Store it in water if you're not going to use it, or freeze it.

The only place I know of like that is The Herbfarm in Woodinville. Unfortunately, I've never been there myself, but have heard great things from people who have. Check out their website: www.theherbfarm.com. Also, if you're looking to have any kind of pre-planned dinner event, Willie Greens Organic Farm in Monroe now has an organized (and beautiful) facility and has partnered up with Herban Feast Catering to offer delicious, very farm fresh meals.

There are some farms that have work share programs, often as an alternative form of payment for receiving a weekly food box, though not many advertise, so it's hard to know where to ask. I think, from a farmer's perspective, it's sometimes hard to gauge whether or not having a large work share program is worthwhile, since it often requires so much planning and day-of management. I know Sol to Seed in Carnation has a work share group at the farm every Saturday and others may have save similar schedules. I think your best bet is to visit one of the bigger markets (U-District, Ballard, etc) where the farmers tend to come themselves (rather then sending a sales person) and just ask them directly.

I buy fresh tofu from Uwajimaya (600 5th ave south). It comes packaged the way fresh meat does sometimes, sitting atop a white styrofoam plate with a clear plastic film over it. So good fresh! Plus the price is basically the same or better than packaged tofus.