Thursday, June 9th: Opening Day! Sugar Snap Peas, Strawberries, Hard Cider, Local Beef, Pea Vines, Milk, Artisan Breads & Chef Brandon Kirksey of Tavolata! But Wait, There’s More!!!

Chef Brandon Kirksey performing a cooking demonstration last August at Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Woohoo! It’s time! Time for your new and improved Interbay Farmers Market, hosted by Interbay Urban Center at 2001 15th Avenue W, just north of the Magnolia Bridge, in front of the Interbay Whole Foods Market. We’ll miss the spectacular sunsets and the beautiful views of the Seattle skyline and waterfront at the Olympic Sculpture Park we enjoyed last year, but alas, a second season there just did not work out. So we’ve moved a little north.

Visit us this, and every Thursday, from 3-7 p.m., through the end of September, to stock up mid-week on fresh, local deliciousness from great local farmers, ranchers and food artisans. And enjoy cooking demonstrations at 4 p.m. most weeks, kicking off with a demo by Chef Brandon Kirksey from Tavolata in North Belltown. Brandon is always a delight, and he will offer you great ideas of what to do with the local bounty at the Market. Hey, if he can do it under a tent in a parking lot on two butane burners, you can do it at home!

Sugar snap peas from Alvarez Organic Farms. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

It has been a long, cold, wet winter, and many crops have been delayed this year, but now that spring has finally actually arrived, crop growth is beginning to accelerate. Alvarez Organic Farms, for instance, has the first sugar snap peas (above) of the season, as well as snow peas, asparagus, green garlic and onions and more!

Skagit River Ranch brings local meat, poultry, eggs, and grilled-to-order burgers. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Skagit River Ranch is renowned for their great, grass-finished beef, pastured pork, organic chickens and eggs. And this year, they’ll also be slinging freshly grilled hamburgers made with their own beef, served on Tall Grass Bakery buns! You can grab your groceries, and a delicious local snack to tide you over until dinner, too!

First of the season strawberries from Billy's. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Yes! Strawberries!!! Oh, happy day! But these strawberries from Billy’s will likely sell out fast, so get here early. Of course, Billy’s will have some amazing rustic arugula, tomato plants and more… but strawberries…

Pea vines from Lee's Fresh Produce. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Lee’s Fresh Produce is a 30-acre vegetable farm just east of the end of SR 520, on Avondale Road in Redmond. You’ve probably driven past it many times and not even noticed it. Lee’s grows spectacular produce. These pea vines (above) are tender and sweet, perfect tossed quickly in some warm olive oil until wilted, or added to a salad or some soup. They’ve also got baby bok choy, dill, cilantro, green onions, kale and much more!

Bread and pastries from Grateful Bread Bakery. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Grateful Bread Bakery in Wedgewood makes some wonderful artisan breads, pastries, muffins, cookies, and great bagels. Personally, I’m addicted to their chocolate croissants!

Pink Beauty radishes from One Leaf Farm. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Meet King County’s newest farm, One Leaf Farm, from Carnation. For a first-year farm, their produce easily can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with any farm in the state. It’s beautiful, fresh and delicious. They offer many interesting heirloom varieties, like these pink beauty radishes, and almost a dozen kinds of lettuce, and they’ve got some of the best salad mix I’ve ever had!

Bottle-fermented, sparkling hard ciders from Finnriver Farm & Cidery. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Finnriver Farm & Cidery makes bottle-fermented, sparkling hard ciders the old-fashioned French way, and the payoff is it the first sip you take. Do you love traditional ciders? Now, you can get it made locally!

Jessie Hopkins from Colinwood Farm on his antique potato planter. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Speaking of old-fashioned, check out Jessie Hopkins of Colinwood Farm on his antique potato planter. Colinwood Farm is located in, and I do mean “in”, Port Townsend. The farm is right smack in the middle of town, surrounded by neighborhoods. And yet their farm sports some of the richest, darkest, most fertile soil I have ever seen anywhere. And being located in the “Banana Belt”, that warmer, drier, sunnier swath of the Olympic Peninsula that is in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains, they have mastered the use of greenhouses and row covers to be able to have crops year-round at our Ballard Farmers Market, and to be the first to offer summer squash, carrots, tomatoes and more! Of course, these things will likely sell out fast today, but they’ve got plenty of gorgeous greens, salad and braising mix, storage spuds and more. So come meet one of the best, old-school farms in the state coming into Seattle to serve us you may never have heard of. After today, you will never forget them!

Gingered rhubarb jam from Deluxe Foods. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

How about jams, jellies and fruit butters made from local ingredients? Deluxe Foods has got you covered. They offer a wonderful variety of great flavors. Your toast will never be the same!

Milk and light cream from Silver Springs Creamery. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Lastly, for today anyway, and certainly not least, meet Silver Springs Creamery from Lynden. They milk jersey cows and goat. Then they bottle some of the best milk and cream, including old-fashioned chocolate milk, you will find anywhere. And that’s not all! They also make goat yogurt, as well as jersey cow yogurt that won “Best Yogurt” at the 2010 American Cheese Society Awards in Seattle last August. And they make great aged and fresh goat and jersey cow cheeses, too!

Of course, this is just a highlighting of what you will find today. There is still plenty of other stuff just waiting for you at your Interbay Farmers Market this week. For a full accounting of what you will find, click on “What’s Fresh Now!” in the upper right-hand corner.

Thursday, September 9th: Chef Craig Hetherington of TASTE Helps Wrap Up Our Inaugural Season!

The sun sets over Puget Sound and the Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

As the sun sets on the inaugural season of your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market, let’s take time to celebrate and reflect upon an exciting first year of Belltown’s new, weekly grocery store. We enjoyed access to an incredible array of fresh, local food direct from the producers that would be the envy of people in most other parts of our country. We were entertained by music, dancing and cooking demonstrations by some of Seattle’s best chefs. We sampled Washington wines and enjoyed Market-inspired seasonal cocktails. And we did it all in one of the most beautiful places on earth — the Seattle Art Museum’s Olympic Sculpture Park — surrounded by world-class art, the skyline of Seattle, Elliott Bay and Puget Sound, the Olympic Mountains and Mount Rainier. Honestly, I could not think of a more pleasant way to spend a Thursday afternoon in summer in Seattle.

Chef Craig Hetherington of TASTE Restaurant. Photo courtesy TASTE Restaurant & Events.

Our final cooking demonstration of the 2010 season features Chef Craig Hetherington of TASTE Restaurant at 5:30 p.m. today. I have had the pleasure of working with Craig for many years, and I can attest that there are few chefs as committed to using local ingredients on their menus in Seattle today as he has been to it for the nine years I’ve known him. Add to that his tremendous talent in the kitchen, and you have consistently delicious, guilt-free food. Stop by today for some great ideas for cooking local yourself, and if you haven’t treated yourself to TASTE Restaurant in the Seattle Art Museum on 1st Avenue, do it soon. You’ll thank me later!

New Moon cheese from Mt. Townsend Creamery. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Celebrate your access this summer to award-winning, local food. Like this New Moon cheese from Mt. Townsend Creamery in Port Townsend. It won First In Class in the Jack category two weeks ago at the 2010 American Cheese Society Convention & Competition held right here in Seattle.

Sausages from Skagit River Ranch. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Reflect on all the recalls of contaminated factory-farmed meat and eggs lately, and that you are lucky enough to be among the few Americans who has access to meat, seafood, poultry and eggs from local family farmers and fishers — people who care deeply about the animals they work with and the people who eat them. Like Skagit River Ranch, which produces healthy, pastured beef, pork, lamb, chicken and eggs in Sedro-Woolley.

Rainbow chard from Oxbow Farm. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Tired of produce that is shipped an average of 1,500 miles to get to your local Big Box grocery store? Fed up with it turning to mush in your fridge in just a few days, because it was harvested so long ago? We’ve answered that problem, too, with the freshest local produce direct from the farmers who grew it, usually within 24 hours of harvest. Good luck finding rainbow chard, like this from Oxbow Farm, any fresher anywhere else. Just look at the cuts on those stems. They cannot be more than a few hours old, and they have not even begun to brown.

Cherry tomatoes from Summer Run. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Ain’t it great to have access to tomatoes that taste like, well, tomatoes? In heirloom varieties developed over centuries to serve many functions in your kitchen? Of course it is! Just check out these beautiful cherry tomatoes from Summer Run Farm. A-friggin-men!!!

Dinosaur Egg pluots from Tiny's. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

And fruit. Fresh, juicy, delicious, tree-ripened and brought to us by local family farmers at its peak. Washington enjoys almost an embarrassment of riches when it comes to tree fruit, which begs the question, why the heck would we be eating stuff imported by ship from Chile and New Zealand — taking weeks to get here and traveling thousands of miles — when you can enjoy this amazing array of fruit from right here? Like these locally-developed Dinosaur Egg pluots from Tiny’s. I mean, seriously, think about it. You never even heard of a pluot in a Big Box store until recently, because they finally realized what we’ve been enjoying for years at farmers markets. Farmers markets are where the innovation happens, and where the heirloom crops are preserved!

Gluten-free breads from Platypus Breads. Photo courtesy Platypus Breads.

And where else are you going to find this incredible gluten-free artisan bread from Platypus Breads? Maybe at another one of our farmers markets, but nowhere else. This stuff is moist and full of flavor, terms rarely associated with gluten-free bread. And don’t forget Grateful Bread Bakery, which offers artisan bread, cookies, croissants, bagels and more!

Saffron from Phocas Farms. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

How about local saffron? Seriously. This saffron is grown in Port Angeles by Phocas Farms. It is fresh and brilliantly flavored, and it is only traveling a few miles to get to you, not thousands of miles from Iran, from where over 70% of the world’s saffron comes.

Dante's Inferno Dogs. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Looking for a quick snack? We have that covered, too. Grab a dog or a local, Cascioppo Brothers sausage from Dante’s Inferno Dogs. They’ll dress it the way you like it to stave off that hunger until you can get home with your Market goodies to make a fabulous dinner for yourself.

Keith from Finnriver. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Hard cider and local grain. We’ve got that, too! Finnriver Farm from Chimacum brings it to us every week. And they’ve got freshly milled flours, too. Did you know that flour is really only good for about two months after milling before it begins to break down nutritionally and eventually go rancid? I recommend you toss that old flour in your cupboard, and come down to your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market today to get some fresh, local flour.

Our own (well, not really) Farmers blimp. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

So come celebrate and reflect upon your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market today, and stock up while you can. And if we’re lucky, we’ll get another visit from our very own (well, not really) Farmers blimp that flew over us last week. (I guess they got the dates wrong.)

Remember, this blog is your source for all things Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. You will learn about what’s in season; the people and businesses that produce it; what chefs will be performing cooking demonstrations from week-to-week; recipes from those demos and our vendors; and so much more. Each week during the Market season, one or more articles will be posted here, and each week the What’s Fresh Now!pages in the upper right-hand margin will be updated to let you know what all you can expect to find this week at the Market. So check back often, subscribe to the RSS feed, and then come visit us at your new Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market.

Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market: Feeding the Body & the Soul!

Thursday, September 2nd: Chefs Brian McCracken & Dana Tough of Spür Gastropub, Finnriver Hard Cider & Flour @ TASTE & A Beautiful, Warm, Sunny Afternoon!

Chefs Dana Tough (left) and Brian McCracken of Spür Gastropub. Photo by Kristin Zwiers, courtesy Spür & The Spellman Group.

The inaugural season of your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market is winding down. After today, we’ve got just one more week. And these two last weeks are going to rock, just like the first seven did. For instance, today, we feature a cooking demonstration at 5:30 p.m. by Belltown’s own Chefs Brian McCracken & Dana Tough from Spür Gastropub. Come watch and learn as these rising stars of the kitchen have some fun with what’s fresh today at the Market.

Sparkling hard cider from Finnriver Farm. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Today, in TASTE Restaurant & Events‘ Liquid Lounge, you will have a chance to taste some of the amazing hard cider produced in the old world way by Finnriver Farm. Finnriver is one of the many great Washington farms who sell each week at your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. Also today in the Liquid Lounge:

• Wine Tasting: Terra Blanc Sauvignon Blanc, 2007; Milbrandt Vineyards “Traditions” Chardonnay, 2007; Buried Cane Cabernet Sauvignon, 2007; Tranche Cellars Barbara, 2005.
• Tiffany’s Farm-to-Glass Cocktail: Roasted Heirloom Bloody Mary.

Finnriver whole grains & flours. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Finnriver Farm will also be featured at TASTE Restaurant & Events’ food booth today. Finnriver produces grain, which they mill into fresh flour that TASTE will use in today’s menu:

• Grilled Panini with Summer Run heirloom tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil pesto. Served with a potato and corn salad.
• Lucy’s Farm-inspired Doughnut - S’more doughnuts – honey red wheat doughnut filled with chocolate marshmallow, featuring Finnriver flour and Skagit River Ranch eggs.

Seastack from Mt. Townsend Creamery. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Mt Townsend Creamery, from Port Townsend, which sells its cheese right here at your Olympic Sculpture Park, won First in Class for its Seastack cheese in the Soft Ripened category at the 2010 American Cheese Society conference & competition held here in Seattle this past week. Come sample it today, and bring home what the rest of the world is raving about!

Fresh Frasier River sockeye from Loki Fish. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

The boys at the helm of the boats of Loki Fish have returned now to Washington waters after a successful summer of fishing in Alaska. The are currently fishing for Frasier River sockeye just south of the Canadian border, and some of that fish may be available to us fresh today!

Red Zebra & Black Zebra tomatoes from Billy's. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Billy’s has entered into its second big wave of great heirloom tomatoes. Check out these gorgeous Red Zebra & Black Zebra tomatoes, and they have many others, as well. We may even get to taste a few of them during the cooking demonstration today!

Catalina Plums from Collins Family Orchards. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

And how about these beautiful Catalina plums from Collins Family Orchards. Collins has a number of plums, apples, peaches and other orchard goodness now, great for that waning taste of summer!

Remember, this blog is your source for all things Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. You will learn about what’s in season; the people and businesses that produce it; what chefs will be performing cooking demonstrations from week-to-week; recipes from those demos and our vendors; and so much more. Each week during the Market season, one or more articles will be posted here, and each week the What’s Fresh Now! pages in the upper right-hand margin will be updated to let you know what all you can expect to find this week at the Market. So check back often, subscribe to the RSS feed, and then come visit us at your new Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market.

Emmer Berry Salad with Market Fresh Vegetables

Chef Ba Culbert from Tilikum Place Cafe at her cooking demonstration on August 19, 2010. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

By Chef Ba Culbert from Tilikum Place Cafe , as prepared for her cooking demonstration at the Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market on August 19, 2010.

Ingredients:

• 2 cup Emmer (also know as Farro)
• 4 cups hard cider (optional)
• 1 small Walla Walla onion, chopped
• 2-3 cloves finely chopped
• 3-4 leaves Rainbow chard, stems and leaves separated
• 1 large ripe peach
• 1 small head cauliflower
• 1 medium carrot
• 3 tablespoons chopped herbs like dill, mint, parsley and marjoram.  Whatever is on hand will work.
• a light bright vinegar like sherry or champagne, to taste
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil, as needed

Sauteing chard stems. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Preparation:

Cook the emmer in the hard cider, first bringing to a boil and then lowering the temperature to a simmer. As the cider reduces, add water as needed until emmer is cooked. It should be tender but still firm. It will take about 45 mins or so.

While the emmer is cooking, prepare the vegetables. Dice onion and garlic, and sweat in a little olive oil until translucent.  Separate the leaves from the stems of the chard.  Cut the leaves into ribbons and finely chop the chard stems.  Saute the stems in the olive oil until they are tender, deglaze with a little vinegar.  Saute the leaves separately, seasoning with salt and pepper.  Cut the cauliflower into little florets and the carrot into thin semi-circles.  Saute those as well.  Dice the peach and keep separate.  Chop herbs and set aside.

When the emmer is cooked, drain any excess liquid and put in a large bowl.  Add all the cooked vegetables, the peach and chopped herbs to the emmer.  Toss together until evenly distributed.  Taste salad and add a splash of oil and vinegar as well as salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer salad to a serving dish and enjoy on it’s own or as a side to grilled meat, fish or roasted chicken.

The finished product! Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Savoy Cabbage & Bacon

Savoy Cabbage & Bacon as prepared by Chef Daniel Newell of Zoë on July 29, 2010. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

As prepared by Chef Daniel Newell of Restaurant Zoë on July 29, 2010 at the Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market, using market fresh ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 2 medium size savory cababge heads, quartered, cored & cut into 1/4″ slices
• 1 medium onion, small to medium dice
• 8-12 slices pasture raised bacon
• 1 cup verjus (substitute apple cider — hard or sweet)
• 1 each lemon, zested
• 2 T butter
• salt to taste

Preparation:

Render out bacon, add onion and sweat until tender. Add cabbage and sweat for 3-5 minutes. Add verjus and reduce. When almost dry add butter and stir in. Finish with lemon zest and adjust seasoning with salt.

Thursday, July 29th: Chef Daniel Newell from Zoë, Artisan Cheeses from Mt. Townsend, Nectarcots (We'll Explain), Gazpacho, Hard Cider & A Wine Tasting By TASTE!

Mt. Townsend's Matthew Day stands before his cheese. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Mt. Townsend Creamery is just one of the absolute explosion of cheese makers in Washington state over the last decade that has so elevated the craft here that the American Cheese Society is holding its annual meeting and awards in Seattle next month! Based in Port Townsend, Mt. Townsend makes a great selection of extraordinary cheeses, from fresh to aged, and we are lucky enough to have them here at the Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. Stop by and visit Meghan today, sample some of their wonderful cheeses, and bring some home with you.

Bacon from Skagit River Ranch. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Chef Daniel Newell of  Restaurant Zoë will be performing a cooking demonstration today at 5:30 p.m. under the red tent by The Eagle at your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. He plans to work with some of this awesome Skagit River Ranch bacon to concoct all manner of vegetable deliciousness. After all, everything is better with bacon, right?

Nectarcots from Collins Family Orchards. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

I swear, every time I turn around, these wacky orchardists in Eastern Washington come up with some new kind of stone fruit. I’m not complaining, mind you, as they have greatly expanded the world of wonderful fruit while simultaneously extending how much of the year they are available. Case in point: the nectarcot. This 70/30 hybrid of the nectarine and the apricot is not terribly sweet, but instead has a deep, complex flavor. It is brought to us by the guys at Collins Family Orchards.

Artichokes from Summer Run. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Summer Run grows some gorgeous vegetables, but for sheer spectacular beauty, few crops can beat the artichoke. These kings of Roman cuisine come equipped with their own amour, but get past it, and the rewards are many. Grill it, steam it, saute it and toss it will pasta; the mighty artichoke will never let you down.

Herbed Chicken Salad Sandwich was last weeks offering by TASTE. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

TASTE Restaurant & Events is not only one of our partners in presenting you your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market, they are also one of our vendors. And each week, they concoct fresh dishes to offer you that are inspired by the farmers at the Market, and that indeed contain ingredients from those farmers. This week, they offer an Alvarez Farms Roasted Squash & Zucchini Panini with caramelized spring onion, bell pepper relish, & lemon chevre. Served with a side of Alvarez New Potato Salad, as well as Lucy’s Farm-inspired Doughnut – Rock Island Peach Fritters tossed in cinnamon sugar.

Spectacular salad mix from Colinwood Farms. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Colinwood Farms, from Port Townsend, grows some magnificent lettuces, but if you are like me, and you just are too lazy to assemble your own salad from scratch, then try out their incredible salad mix, full of spicy greens, tender lettuces, tasty edible flowers and other goodness. All you need to do is add the dressing!

Sparkling hard cider from Finnriver Farm. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Finnriver Farm, in Chimacum, bottle ferments their ciders the old-world way, much like is done to make champagne. Thus result is an honest sparkling hard cider that will tickle both your nose and your taste buds. Bring a bottle home tonight and give it a try!

Got Soup? makes fresh, delicious soups from local ingredients. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

This week’s soup flavors from Got Soup? include: Curried Cauliflower and Zucchini (vegan); Northwest Chowder; Heirloom Tomato Gazpacho (vegan/raw); and Chilled Pineapple & Avocado with Chipotle (vegan). They make their soups with fresh, organic, local ingredients (well, except that last one, of course) wherever possible, and they offer great cold soups for summer. I absolutely adore the gazpacho!

Wine tastings at TASTE's Liquid Lounge. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

TASTE Restaurant & Events offers up wine tastings and market-inspired seasonal cocktails in their Liquid Lounge in the PACCAR Pavilion at your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. Washington wines for the $5 tasting this week are:

• Buried Cane – Sauvignon Blanc
• Masterpiece White – Sauvignon Blanc / Viognier
• Covington Cellars – “Dress White” – Sauvignon Blanc / Semillon
• Chandler Reach – Corella – (Super Tuscan) Sangiovese / Cabernet Sauvignon / Merlot

Or enjoy one of Tiffany’s Seasonal Cocktails: today Berry Margaritas featuring the berries of Hayton Berry Farm. You can also enjoy local wine and beer by the glass. Today’s selections are:

• White – J Bookwalter Riesling
• Red – TASTE”s own Masterpiece Red
• Beer by the glass  – Pike’s Naughty Nellie (keg)

And remember, this blog is your source for all things Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. You will learn about what’s in season; the people and businesses that produce it; what chefs will be performing cooking demonstrations from week-to-week; recipes from those demos and our vendors; and so much more. Each week during the Market season, one or more articles will be posted here, and each week the What’s Fresh Now!pages in the upper right-hand margin will be updated to let you know what all you can expect to find this week at the Market. So check back often, subscribe to the RSS feed, and then come visit us at your new Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market!

Thursday, July 15th: Grand Opening Day!

Adam from Oxbow Farm smiling over his beautiful chard. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

We’ve all been talking about this for months, wondering if the day would ever arrive: opening day of your new Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. Well, that day is today! And we are excited. We have a whole lot in store for everyone, from great farmers, food artisans and artists to live music and dancing to TASTE’s Liquid Lounge and wine tastings to an incredible lineup of chefs doing cooking demonstrations every week. But first and foremost, what we have lined up for you is a grocery store, once a week for four hours, featuring the finest local food Washington has to offer. Yes, Belltown, one very densely populated grocery store desert, finally has a grocery store, and Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market is its name.

Anthony Estrella of Estrella Family Creamery. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

By the way, this new, weekly grocery store of yours takes food stamps, just like any other grocery store. You just have to check in at the black tent that says “information” on it and ask to get Market tokens with your Quest card, and you are good to go. Of course, the difference here is that you can get high-quality food with your food stamps instead of the cheap, unhealthy, processed foods you are stuck with at Big Box grocers and corner convenience stores. Most of our farmers also accept WIC and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition Program checks (a.k.a., FMNP or “farmers market checks”).

Carrie from Alm Hill Gardens. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

The Market debuts today at 3:30 p.m., with the first cooking demonstration of the season at 5:30 p.m. But I suppose you wanna know what vendors we are going to have today, don’t you? Okay, here is just a sampling:

• Alm Hill Gardens (a.k.a., Growing Washington), from Everson, will bring an incredible variety of vegetables, berries, flowers, shelling beans, and all manner of goodness over the coming weeks.
• Colinwood Farms, out of Port Townsend, has amazing greens, new potatoes, sweet peppers, summer squash, lettuce as big as your head, and so much more. Their soil is the blackest, richest earth I have ever seen.
• Skagit River Ranch, based in Sedro-Woolley produces some of the best, healthiest beef, pork, chicken and eggs from happy animals raised on the kind of farm those folks from California want you to think their dairy cows are raised on. I’ve been to Skagit River Ranch and seen how they care for their animals right to the end. A USDA inspector told me there is no more humane operation that he has ever seen.
• Estrella Family Creamery, in Montesano, is at the forefront of an artisan cheese revolution in Washington. In its short history, it has won multiple awards for its cheeses at national and international competitions.

Saffron from Phocas Farms. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

You will be amazed at the locally produced food products you will find at your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market — products you may not have known were being produced around here, and products that might have been difficult for you to find elsewhere. These product include:

• Saffron, grown and cured with care by Phocas Farms in Port Angeles. This saffron is being used in the kitchens of many of the finest restaurants in Seattle, as it is of a quality and freshness hard to find in imported saffron. And given that over 70% of the world’s saffron is produced in Iran, think of the reduction in your carbon footprint you will achieve just by using this local saffron.
• Gluten-free bread from Ballard’s Platypus Breads. Gluten-free bread is hard enough to find locally, but really good gluten-free bread is almost impossible to find, until now.
• Local milk, bottled in returnable glass bottles, direct from Golden Glen Creamery in Bow. This may be the best milk I’ve ever tasted, and once you’ve had milk bottled in glass, you will never go back to plastic bottles again. Plus, Golden Glen bottles incredible heavy cream and half-n-half, and they make the only farmstead butter in Washington you can buy.

The Dante behind Dante's Inferno Dogs. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

You will be able to pick up a snack while you shop at your Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market, from such local originals as:

• Dante’s Inferno Dogs from Ballard, slinging great dogs and sausages that happily fill any stomach’s void.
• Patty Pan Grill makes delicious vegetarian quesadillas and tamales from local ingredients, many of which are sourced from our Market farmers.
• Whidbey Island Ice Cream offers up a tremendous selection of ice cream flavors by the bar and the pint.
• And TASTE Restaurant & Events, one of the Market’s partners, which has set the standard in Seattle for using local ingredients to make world-class cuisine. TASTE will be creating delectable concoctions using ingredients from Market farmers.

Keith from Finnriver Farm in Chimacum, which produces hard ciders and fine grain products. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

And remember, this blog is your source for all things Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market. You will learn about what’s in season; the people and businesses that produce it; what chefs will be performing cooking demonstrations from week-to-week; recipes from those demos and our vendors; and so much more. Each week during the Market season, one or more articles will be posted here, and each week the What’s Fresh Now! pages in the upper right-hand margin will be updated to let you know what all you can expect to find that week at the Market. So check back often, subscribe to the RSS feed, and then come visit us at your new Olympic Sculpture Park Farmers Market!