LocavOregon » Farmers Markets

Hillsboro Orenco Station Farmers Market

Administrator — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:32:07 +0000

I am always on the lookout for a farmers markets held on Sundays. On Saturday I may be off doing a walk that isn’t near a farmers market, and need to use Sunday to stock up on veggies. At Orenco Station in Hillsboro, the Hillsboro Sunday Farmers Market opened for the season on Mother’s Day and Mom just happened to want lunch nearby. I arrived early and browsed the market. This is still early season, so the produce was slim pickings. But I picked up some excellent plant starts and could see this was a healthy-sized market that will be well worth the stop in the future. It is near the large parking lot for New Seasons Market for easy car access. And I always enjoy a stop at New Seasons itself to pick up items the farmers don’t carry.

Mom says she likes to go to the farmers market in downtown Hillsboro on Saturday.

Orenco Station is a planned community built for a car-light lifestyle. I enjoyed an hour-long stroll around the development and I think I would enjoy living there. We have often had volksmarches here. If you work nearby at Intel, you can indeed bike or walk to work. But I don’t think anybody has space out back for a decent sized garden.
Photos of Orenco Station

Parkrose and Troutdale Farmers Markets

Administrator — Mon, 04 May 2009 13:24:12 +0000

On my way to and from my walk this weekend, I stopped in at two farmers markets I hadn’t yet sampled. The Parkrose Farmers Market is actually quite convenient from my side of Vancouver, just south of Airport Way near 122nd. It was opening day and they were giving out shopping bags and door prizes. At this point in the season, it’s a small market. I bought mustard greens, potatoes and onions at a produce stall and bagels from Gabriel’s Bakery. They have food vendors, plants, arts and crafts and an entertainment booth.

On my way back from the walk at Mount Hood Community College, I stopped by the Troutdale Farmers Market. Now, this one was truly tiny, just four tables. But they had exactly what I wanted, farm eggs and salad greens and some fingerling potatoes. It was a good stop.

On Sunday I stopped at the Vancouver Farmers Market and bought another 12 lettuce starts. The lettuce starts I planted three weeks ago are really going to town. The lettuce I planted in my planters is starting to take hold, but the most recent starts I made indoors are wimpy. I transplanted all of the my starts except the tomatoes, but I fear they are all anemic failures. I have good hopes for the tomatoes and pepper, which I will transplant in two weeks. I planted seeds for carrots and onions outdoors right before a big thunderstorm squall came through. I hope it didn’t wash them all away! I am thinking that next year I will plant seeds outdoors and buy starts for tomatoes, peppers, etc. rather than trying to sprout them inside. I just don’t have the right light, etc.

Sprouts and an Empty Freezer

Administrator — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 00:32:22 +0000

Two days after planting my seeds, I have beet sprouts and collard sprouts! I really love the Jiffy Greenhouses. They are reusable and have almost no mess. I did all of the planting in my kitchen and they are incubating in my bathroom. Once I’ve sprouted and transplanted my seedlings, I can buy more seed starting disks at any local garden center and start the next round. This will be especially useful for crops like lettuce where you need to replant every few weeks.

My freezer is almost devoid of last autumn’s bounty. Tonight I use my last batch of slow roasted tomatoes for a puree to top baked parmesan chicken breasts. I’ll have only a bag of whole frozen tomatoes I plan to use in soup and chili, a few cubes of pesto and some forgotten frozen garlic tips I should use in soup.

The Vancouver Farmers Market starts up again this weekend – and none too soon!

North Bank Magazine for SW Washington Locavores

Administrator — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 14:40:13 +0000

I am very jazzed to discover North Bank Magazine, which covers locavore issues in Southwest Washington. As I reside in America’s Vancouver, I felt like they were writing this just for me. The glossy issue that came out February 20, 2009 was filled with the info I want. They had an interview with my own CSA farmer, and I was happy to hear that CSA farms are growing and thriving in our area. The Vancouver Farmers Market may also be changing some policies so they attract more of the local farms. I learned about the challenges of selling produce to local restaurants, from both sides.

Subscriptions are free for North Bank Magazine. You can sign up online. It is published by the Vancouver Business Journal. I’ve added their editor’s blog to my blog reader and blogroll.

Portlanders are Weather Wimps

Administrator — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 14:36:37 +0000

The two farmers markets I listed for this weekend are now canceled due to inclement weather. Portland Farmers Market and Hillsdale Farmers Market will not be open. I guess there won’t be any giftwrapped local organic beets under the Christmas tree this year.

Vancouver has thus far been spared any really problematic weather, other than the pipe-freezing temperatures. The roads have been clear and not slippery. But even the chance of more than a skiff of snow is enough to close down schools and events. In all fairness, I wouldn’t want farmers loading up the truck and risking an accident only to discover they have few customers at their destination. Still, I imagine many people take public transit to the Portland Farmers Market most of the time, and anybody living in Hillsdale must have studded snow tires.

I am reveling in the luxury of being only a short drive from work. But that also means fewer excuses about chancing the commute in foul weather. However, my husband is stuck on the snow route for his bus to Portland, which has meant standing in the cold for 40 minutes when the transfers don’t meet up.

Last Farmers Markets of 2008

Administrator — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 12:14:25 +0000

LocalHarvest.org lists two farmers markets this weekend. If the ice and snow don’t materialize, I plan to make it to them. Portland Farmers Market has a Winter Solstice Market on Saturday, Dec. 20, promising potatoes, squash and beets as well as free gift wrapping for your purchases. Seems a little Schrute Farm-y to think of beets as gifts, so that must refer to the items from the artisan booths. The marvelous Hillsdale Farmers Market is open on Sunday for its last market of the year. I would love to make it to that one and pick up some Sweet Briar Farm bacon and some chicken and eggs from Kookoolan Farms.

My husband said he misses salads. So do I, but I was so spoiled by the CSA and farmers market lettuce and greens that I just hate to buy bagged greens at the supermarket. Winco has a good selection of bagged greens, including organic selections. But if I make it to the farmers markets, I hope the hydroponic grower is at one of them to snag some greens from them.

We had two minor mishaps with the cold temperatures this week. Vancouver was spared any build-up of ice and snow in the weekend storm. But my big bows blew off the carriage lights and I’ve brought them indoors. Then the condensation drain line from the furnace got plugged. Luckily, I was able to thaw it as the ice plug hadn’t grown past the elbow joint where it drains from the side of the garage. We hadn’t cleared the barkdust from around it, which allowed an ice stalagmite to grow up from the ground and lead to the ice plug. We dug a hole beneath it now so it should drain freely. Our furnace gives off a quart (liter) of water every hour when it is running! Is this a possible source of drinking water in an emergency? I suppose if it were filtered it would be OK in a survival situation. But it’s hard to imagine a situation that led to the loss of water and not also electricity. I’m happier we have a couple of 5-gallon bottles of Sierra Springs water.

Holiday Local Farm Events

Administrator — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 15:56:41 +0000

I use the LocalHarvest food and farming events calendar to be alerted to happenings of interest. You can enter a zip code and enter a distance radius of 25, 50, 100 or 500 miles.
Calendar of Events for Portland 100 Mile Radius

For December, there are Christmas craft fairs, a workshop on making your own wreath, Christmas trees to harvest, and even a getaway to stay at a local farm for the experience. Since I spent many a night at my grandparents farm, I’ll skip that one. Farm work convinced me I was cut out for something indoors and away from animal dung. I honor the farmers, and people think I’m nuts to prefer working with human bodily fluids in the medical lab, but that was my choice.

Visting the Harvest Farmers Market

Administrator — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 09:19:36 +0000

I stopped by the Beaverton Farmers Market for its special pre-Thanksgiving opening. It was half the size it usually is, which still made it a large farmers market. There was an abundance of various types of squash and apples and a number of booths selling locally gathered mushrooms. I was focused on potatoes, and brought home a bag of Yukon Golds for mashed potatoes and some red potatoes and russet potatoes. I also stocked up at the homemade pasta booth.

I should be able to visit the Eastbank Thanksgiving Reunion Market: “On Tuesday, November 25, just two days before the big feast, Portland Farmers Market will host a Thanksgiving Reunion Market, at the Eastbank Farmers Market site, at the corner of SE 20th Ave & Salmon St., from 1pm to 5pm. The Reunion Market provides one more chance to source ingredients as locally as possible for a country-style Thanksgiving and the tastiest of leftovers!”

Rich and I browsed through Fred Meyer last night and looked at the turkey prices. It appears I can buy a locally grown organic turkey for around $45, twice the price of a standard robo-bird. Should I bite the bullet and try the local, organic bird? Or should I espouse the new thriftiness?

Harvest Farmers Markets Nov. 22-25

Administrator — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 12:28:38 +0000

It looks like I may be able to stock up on potatoes and carrots after all. Here is the list of events from the LocalHarvest calendar for the next two weeks in the Portland area.

Thanksgiving FEASTival (November 22) At: Portland Farmers Market (Portland, OR)
Harvest Market (November 22) At: Beaverton Farmers’ Market (Beaverton, OR)
Eastbank Thanksgiving Reunion Market (November 25) At: Portland Farmers Market (Portland, OR)
Moreland Holiday Market (November 25) At: Moreland Farmers Market (Portland, OR)

Farmers Markets Closed for the Season

Administrator — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 18:26:39 +0000

It’s November and pretty much every farmers market is now closed until late spring. These are the challenging months for locavores. I signed up for the late season subscription to my CSA and so I’m still getting lettuce, greens, squash, and some root vegetables. But I am wondering what I will do until May. I froze a lot of roasted tomatoes, but other than tomatoes I had no surplus to put away. I really regret that my CSA didn’t seem to produce carrots or potatoes in any quantity. I still look at those as great winter staples.

Since May, I have changed my cooking and shopping habits tremendously. We have eaten out only rarely for dinner. I felt the pressure to use those vegetables I got from the CSA, which drove me to cook different dishes. I supplemented them with more produce from the farmers markets. In the end, I only stopped at the grocery store or Costco for meat, bread and milk products.

My aim was always to explore being more of a locavore, rather than a strict locavore, and in that these past six months have been extremely successful. But there were many other virtues:

Saved money on impulse buys at grocery stores
Saved money on eating out.
Saved space in the trash can as there were very few take-out containers.
Ate a far wider variety of vegetables
Found sources for grass-fed beef
Learned or created many new recipes.

With the recession, by spending a big chunk of money for a CSA subscription, I probably saved 5 to 10 times that amount in reduced expenses for eating out and buying prepared foods in the grocery store. While it can be more expensive to buy local products, it promotes a lifestyle that saves big bucks over a typical American “I’ll pick something up on the way home” lifestyle.

I have already signed up for the 2009 CSA subscription.