September 22: Vashon Farmers Market Fresh Sheet

September 21, 2012  

Here’s food for thought from Rebecca, our market Manager. 

Last week’s Food For Thought elicited many “yeah, I can feel it, too” comments about the turning of the season. But Rob Peterson, of Plum Forest Farm (pictured below), sent me a wonderful note pointing out the irony behind that transition – which is that, while our bodies register the change, a walk down the aisle at the Market Pavilion tells a different story. Fall might be knocking on the calendar’s door, but the output from the farms says it’s still very much summer. With hot houses, which most farms have in addition to their open acreage, Rob points out that farmers are still reaching the peak of summer production.

In Rob’s poetic words, “the farms and gardens are cranking out more sugar than ever before, in many delicious forms. The season may be turning towards fall, but the farm output is still in crescendo mode.” Peppers, those heat-insistent darlings, are here in ripe, glorious abundance. Vine-ripened tomatoes abound, looking like a red-orange-yellow color wheel gone wild. Sweet corn is just now coming on strong. Nothing about the market says summer is over – and the weather this weekend is only too happy to play along, with another late weekend of warmth promised on the heels of the longest stretch of (truly) rainless days in decades.

The rain will return soon enough, but for now we are only too happy to soak up the positive energy of all that warm weather, and the miraculous bounty that has come from it. Kudos to all our talented farmers, eliciting delicious crescendos from a symphony of crops grown in all kinds of venues. Their careful orchestrations make it possible for us to eat locally grown – and ripened – foods throughout a longer stretch of the year, which keeps us from turning our eye toward foods grown thousands of miles away ( and produced in less than ideal ways.)

I join Rob in hoping our market customers continue getting the message that the bounty is “rolling in” this time of year. Here’s that message in cyber form – come find it for yourself in Mother’s Nature’s colorful, three dimensional brilliance tomorrow at the market!

Here’s what on offer this week at YOUR ever-bountiful Vashon Farmers Market:

• Greenman Farm (pictured at right) For the 4th week in a row, they will have FRESH PICKED SWEET CORN! Also heirloom and beefsteak tomatoes, tri-color mixed pole beans, outrageous romano beans, Asian cucumbers, Indian cucumbers, heirloom cabbage, Gai Lan flowering kale, summer squash, zucchini, golden potatoes, french fingerling potatoes, hot and sweet peppers, rainbow chard, beets, sweet onions, farm fresh eggs, and plenty of recipes to go with them all. And back for the 5th week, they’ll have their deeeeeelicious figs, a Saturday Market favorite for 16 years. For farm crafts, they’ll have upcycled “feed” tote bags, adorable organic cotton produce bags, and beautiful veggie watercolour greeting cards. For those who want to enliven their walls with gorgeous art, check out Will’s gorgeous original veggie watercolour portraits as well as the gorgeous little framed prints of the same.
• Fieldstone Flowers is a riot of color, with beautiful summer flowers of many textures and varieties. Sunflowers, cosmos and dahlias, and the market manager’s personal favorites, Rudbeckia, make for a resplendent summer bouquet.
• Hogsback comes bearing Cherry Tomatoes, Red Slicing Tomatoes, and various Heirlooms as well. Multiple types of string beans, onions, early wonder beets with stellar greens, carrots, two types of heirloom radishes, red and green cabbage, and a few peppers.
• Island Meadow Farm (pictured at right) is back in the sauerkraut game, selling traditional, naturally fermented sauerkraut handmade from their cabbage. There will be a limited amount available through the fall, so folks are encouraged to come find themselves a jar while the getting is good. In addition to the kraut, here’s their “swag list” for this week: Arugula, Chard, Chocolate Peppers, Garlic, Heirloom, Tomatoes, Kale, Leeks, Mixed Flower Bouquets, Plums — Sweet Red Hollywoods, Potatoes — Desiree, Yukon Gold and Fingerlings, Red Tomatoes, Red Onions, Shallots — Check out the lovely braids!, Summer Squash — Green Zucchini and Costada Romanesca, Sunflower Stems, sweet Red Bell Peppers, Sweet Frying Peppers, Sweet Onions, Wild & Fancy Salad Mix.
• Hilltop Garden will have, under that bright yellow umbrella this week at the market, potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers and green beans.
• Pacific Crest Farm is coming with lots of summer favorites, including tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, squash, sweet onions, cucumbers, berries and more! We will have plenty of everyone’s year round staples like salad, kale, chard, beets, carrots, cabbage and head lettuce. Don’t miss our great fruit selection with apples, asian pears, strawberries, raspberries, figs and plums!
• East West Produce (pictured at right) returns this week with Peaches, four varieties of Pluots, Bartlett Pears, Honeycrisp & Jonagold Apples, boxes of gherkin Pickle Cukes, and maybe some OKRA. They will also have organic Puyallup Blueberries, plus some of Norine’s specialty Dahlias.
• Plum Forest Farm is proud to announce they are now Certified Organic, and will have: Many varieties of incredible organic heirloom tomatoes – including: tomato tasting winner Blush – plus Brandywine and Pink Brandywine, Black Prince, Cherokee Purple, Prudens Purple, Stupice, Amish Paste, Opalka, Orange Banana, Black Cherry, Jaune Flammée; Indigo Rose and Sungold tomatoes, luscious Raspberries, Gourmet Salad Mix, Plums, Basil, Green and Yellow Beans, Purslane, Carrots, Desireé and German Butterball Potatoes, Swiss Chard, Cucumbers, Summer Squash, Eggplant, Peppers, Bodacious Sweet Corn and Beets.
• Sun Island Farm SWEET CORN IS ON! They’re also be bringing th last of the Melons and lots of delicious sweet peppers with some ristras of hot ones. Vine ripened tomatoes, and Italian plums cherry tomatoes. In the Salad department they’ll have spicy and gourmet mixes, head lettuce, cucumbers and a fresh crop of Beets. There will be more, too, when they check the harvest, so visit your Sun Island to see what they find!
• Calypso Garden returns with elegant Garlic and Shallot Braids, Broccoli, Kale, Potatoes – Desiree and Yellow Finn – Orient Express Cucumbers, Summer Squash, Salad Mix, Chard, Red Cabbage, Fresh Onions, and Fresh Sprout Mixture. Holding court over all that will be Zilla’s Mini and Large Summer Bouquets and those exquisite Pine Needle Baskets, with some new additions!
• Quality Seafood will be there with tasty Columbia River salmon, Spot Prawns from nearby waters, Red Snapper and Alaska halibut, and delicious Smoked King Salmon for the best imaginable hors d’oeuvre.
• Midlife Crisis Farm will be bringing USDA lamb, grass fed ground beef, lean and healthful bison plus Swedish potato sausages for the grill, more of that delectable ginger pear pork sausage as well as brats and German sausages.
• Vashon Winery (which for all intents and purposes is also a FARMER, growing their own apples for cider and harvesting several acres of grapes for their wine) is sampling their newly released 2010 Semillon, a dry white wine with crisp citrus notes perfect for celebrating the end of summertime. Plus 3 reds from their reliable stable… And a HEARTY CONGRATULATIONS to Ron Irvine, named by Seattle Weekly as the best Winemaker of 2012 in their Best of Seattle awards!
• The Farm Coop Booth is always a place to find lots of surprises. This week, get your fix of cabbage, eggs, purple potatoes, straw flowers, baby broccoli and green beans, along with lots of other delicious Vashon Grown produce.
• Cliff’s Beer (pictured at right) is the coolest brew in town. Delicious handmade beers that always sell out early. Choose from equally popular Alder Smoked Porter and Bitter Ale. And Cliff has launched his American Pale Ale – think American Bitter, but hoppier. Hop off with a bottle of that!
• King Caramels redefines the candymaker’s art with Hedy’s latest connoisseur caramels. Choose from Sea Salt, Licorice, Ginger, Classic, Brown Rice and Agave. All amazing, all made on Vashon!
• Anu Rana’s Healthy Kitchen is a big hit with their delicious healthful treats, now presenting their products in new biodegradable packaging – including their Flourless COOKIES: Almond Brownies, Almond Dates Coconut, Almond Mango Cashew, Almond Fig, Almond Basil Pine nut, Almond Ginger Molasses, Almond Oatmeal Raisin, Almond Sesame seed, Almond Peanut butter, and Flourless HALTH BAR: Coconut Pistachio Brazil Nut. Try a sample. You’ll want a week’s supply!
• The VIGA Lavender Lemonade Stand is your “rejuvenation station” after all that VIGArous market shopping.
• La Biondo Wood Fired Pizza (pictured at right) returns with the Taj Mahal of mosaic-tiled pizza ovens, featuring this week’s special Fresh Pesto Pizza, along with Pizza Fresca, made with freshly harvested tomatoes and basil from island farms, and sausage pizza made with locally grown Italian sausage.
• Rosie Bones will have many scrumptious treats for man’s best friend, including grass fed beef liver, organic sweet potato, and chicken feet, along with their regular bags of Rosie’s Choice and Chicken Livers and Gizzards.
• Rex Morris will be happy to put a razor sharp edge on your knives, clippers, a treasured machete’ – and anything you might have left out rusting over the summer… And if you’re lucky, he’ll also have some of his smokin’ hot “Face On Fire” hotsauce to share.
• Mik Kulman, aka The Ball Girl, returns to work out those kinks that have knotted up your body lately.

FROM THE STUDIOS

• Tesse Crocker / Elemental Stitches brings her stitch wizardry to the market, in the form of her beautiful handmade shrugs, and maybe a few other surprises.
• Tahlequah Woodworks brings a bevy of marvelous new cutting boards and other woodworking magic Ralph conjures in his shop. This week Ralph will feature cutting boards with one of his favorite tropical hardwoods, African bloodwood, which has a lovely red color.
• Reap-It Products Jill is bringing her new “Market Bags”, inspired by the flared shape of French paniers, as well as car bags for use with kids stuff, pet toys, magazines, trash, you name it! Dog owners, bring your dog’s measurements (around the neck, collar to tailbone and around the widest part of the middle) for a custom-made doggie raincoat. Jill will mail the finished product to you. Bibs, aprons, 2-growler totes, sandwich wraps, placemats, wallets, lunch bags.. she’s got ‘em all!
• Mariposa Gardens brings a collection of new journals upcycled from used books. Come by and turn the cranks on the paper automata. Be the first on your block to make your own automata with a Breaching Orca kit! and NEW: Lacy knit scarves.
• Empty Nest Studio brings a one-of-a-kind, eclectic collection of gemstone and Vashon beach glass jewelry, including a new product line – Necklace Scarves. It’s a scarf that comes with jewels attached! Tres chic, mon ami!
• Treenware – will be there with a new offering: replicas of 16th century tasting spoons (or, as an alternate name, “lip preservation spoons!) in addition to all his other amazing hand carved spoons and salt bowls.
• Eileen Mackinson aka The Bird Lady joins us, bringing her beautiful collection of plumage from all kinds of feathered friends.
• KB and Paula (pictured at right) offer beautifully crafted gifts, including KB’s elegant stained glass feathers, and Paula’s balancing wine stands, including new ones this week made from aromatic cedar, black walnut, and Cherry. Plus, rare wood letter openers, and those exquisite little vases that would be the perfect receptacle for a petite little end-of-summer bouquet. And don’t miss Paula’s colorful French rolling pins, all made of food safe natural woods, including one exceptionally gorgeous redwood rolling pin from a redwood burl milled in the 60′s.
• Rainy Day Garden will be bringing “White Peach” soap, as close to a fresh, off-the-tree peach scent as you can get! That, along with at least 15 varieties of olive oil based soap, scented with essential and fragrance oils, and including many vegan options, as well as unscented soap for those who are sensitive to fragrance.
• Bliss Organix brings, in addition to many elegant products for body and skin care, a new Bliss Spritz called Summer of Love with patchouli, orange and lavender. Earthy, spicy and sweet! Spray on body, bedsheets or use as a healthy, fragrant air-freshener. Carol is also featuring her Orange Hemp Mint Lip Balm for $9.
• In our nonprofit booth this week, we are honored to host the Island Ingenuity Tour and Food Security group. We also host an information booth about the Vashon Community Cinema’s Film Festival and opening film, Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women World Wide, which shows Sept 25th at the Vashon Theater.