How many farmer’s market posts have I done here on the blog over the years? So many. I’ve lost count by now. I’m passionate about farm fresh real food, what can I say? I thought it would be fun to start doing farmer’s market posts more regularly here because I love watching the offerings change with the seasons. And no matter how many pictures I’ve taken there over the years (it’s so fun!), there are always new things to see. Plus, I know I like seeing what people grow in different areas of the world, so I thought some of you readers living in other places would enjoy seeing what grows in western Oregon throughout the year. (Here’s a farmer’s market post from last August, a tour of sorts with many of our usual stops.)
To me, the farmer’s market is a feast for the senses. I love the sight of so much color. Of bright, vibrant vegetables, fruits, and flowers everywhere I look. I love the smells of fresh herbs, plants, and beeswax. I love the taste of crunchy carrots freshly dug from the earth and sun-ripened berries. I love the sounds of banjos, singing, and conversations all around. I love the feeling of a bundle of beets in my hand, a basket full of vegetables, and coming home with delicious food to feed my family. Good food is something we truly value and our family just loves the farmer’s market. For people like us who eat so much fresh produce every week, it’s a heaven of sorts.
I’m constantly amazed at the variety and abundance at the Lane County Farmer’s Market.(Conveniently nestled next to the Eugene Saturday Market, where we are most weekends.) Right now it’s the middle of April and the past two weekends I’ve seen strawberries! Last Saturday there was zucchini! Greenhouse magic is something I especially appreciate this time of year because strawberries and zucchini won’t be ready in our garden for some time.
Other things that made me happy at farmer’s market this last weekend: seeing three ladies walking around wearing our earrings (yay!), bringing extra eggs we had and doing some trades, and seeing Oregon-grown lemons! I know it’s possible to grow lemons in this area, our neighbor has told us stories about the incredibly prolific lemon tree she had in her greenhouse, but to actually see some with my own eyes at the market was really a treat. Or rather, I should say, seeing them yellow. We have a single lemon on our lemon tree and we have been waiting and waiting for it to turn yellow. I spoke with the farmer and when I told him we had in indoors, he said it needed to get colder at night for the lemon to turn yellow. So we moved our lemon on the front porch and plan on bringing it out in the yard. We’ll see what happens.
And what made Bracken happy at farmer’s market: samples of his favorite hazelnuts (he closed his eyes like it was a big surprise, not like he had been doing it for years), strawberries, and seeing a giant lemon on a tree. (He wanted to ask the farmer if he could pick the lemon and have it. I explained to him that the farmer was selling the tree with the lemon on it. He still thought maybe the farmer would say yes.)
That’s the other thing I love about farmer’s market- being able to talk with people and ask questions. So many great resources. Why don’t our figs ever ripen? Planted the wrong variety for this area. (Now a desert king fig is on our wishlist.) Which mushrooms can we grow in our greenhouse in the summer? White elm. (We had success and were stoked!) What chickens lay those dark brown eggs? Marans. (Inspired us to raise some Maran chickens here.) Why are the liberty apples one of your favorites? Very disease resistant and they taste great. (Now I’m hooked, they’re my favorite tasting apple, and we planted two in our yard.) I could go on and on. So many conversations at farmer’s market have shaped what we’re growing in our yard. We continue to learn so much from the amazing community there.
So, that’s what’s growing around here in April. Until next time!
{Local Farm Love: Though not a complete list, here are some of the farms shown in the photos above. Humble Bee Honey, Deck Family Farm, Horton Road Organics, Honor Earth Farm, SLO farm, Groundworks Organics, Grateful Harvest Farm, Fox Hollow Creek Nursery, The Mushroomery , Sweet Leaf Organics, Turnip the Beet, Organic Redneck, Lost Creek Farm & Hayhurst Valley Organic Nursery. Thanks, farmers, for your hard work and for feeding our community!}
Honey!! Lemons!! I love farmer’s market! 😀
Oh how I miss Oregon! I can literally smell, taste and hear the sounds in your pictures!
Oh what an amazing bounty! I cannot wait until farmer’s market season here. It’ll be a little while yet I think. Also, I never really knew that.. morels are slightly creepy. At first I exclaimed “what is -that-” then read the sign. How odd!
These Farmers’ Market photos are absolutely, & I too was sitting drooling & with a growling tummy!! Our gardening season here in GA is a bit out of whack. We have had huge amounts of rain, wind & cool temperatures for the past 2 weeks. I had lots of plants ready for my small garden, but was unable to put in the ground because it was so wet!! I wish I could just zip over to your lovely market, buy some of everything & give Bracken a huge hug!! Thanks for sharing so much of your life & gorgeous photos with us! Mary Ann
The only thing better than going to a Farmer’s Market is being a vendor at one. We have two lovely markets(winter and summer) that we go to each year and I adore them. The people are amazing. The other vendors are even better. So much community. <3
I almost couldn’t move on from the $5 box of morels photo! I needed to wipe up the drool before I could type my comment. Lots of good looking yummys.
I feel the same way about morels, Jennifer! Do they grow where you live?
Oh my, your photos are just wonderful. I have to plan this into our next trip to the beach. Soon.
20 years ago that farmers market was where I headed down to each Saturday…can’t believe it’s been 20 years since college. Eek! Anyway, when I was looking at the photos I was struck seeing how going to the farmers market is going to be Bracken’s ‘normal’. That’s just going to be ingrained in him always that food comes from the farmers market, which is so fantastic! Even though farmers markets have been around a long time and many of us have been going to them often, it still somehow seems novel and new to me that we get our produce there. Maybe it’s just that it’s so much more fun to shop there. Anyway, Bracken is a lucky boy!
Thanks Kendra! I laugh sometimes and joke that Bracken knew more about plants in the garden when he was a few years old than I knew when I was a teenager! (I hardly saw any food growing on a vine, only coming packaged from the grocery store.) I do love that Bracken is so at home at the farmer’s market. He gets so excited about things like carrots and strawberries and I want that experience of simple joy over good food for all children. I love when I see kids around the farmer’s market!
Hello Taryn! What a gorgeous display of local goods! I am always amazed by how far into Spring you are compared to us on the East Coast. I’m curious if that balances out with a shorter summer or autumn. It seems you always have such nice, mild weather!
We do have a pretty long, mild season right here by the coast. The whole Pacific Northwest has pretty moderate weather, especially west of the Cascades. I wouldn’t say our seasons are shorter, but they are not as distinct. We didn’t get snow this year at all and the fall colors are beautiful, but more subdued than I grew up with back in the Midwest. There are some things we have a harder time growing here near the coast than further inland in the valley, since it doesn’t get as hot (and we have limited sun with all the trees around us.)