Sunday, May 12th: Happy Mother’s Day!

Zachary D. Lyons — Sun, 12 May 2013 01:43:35 +0000

Mother’s Day is not a Hallmark holiday. It has far cooler, and more important, roots than that. In fact, Julia Ward Howe proclaimed the first Mother’s Day in 1870 as an anti-war holiday in response to the U.S. Civil War and the Franco-Prussian War. She was tired of mothers having to bury their sons. Today, Mother’s Day is celebrated worldwide at many different times of year in different countries to honor the important role of mothers in our lives and societies. Heck, looking at the list of international dates, one could reasonably say that every day is Mother’s Day somewhere! Now, we know that round about all of you within the sound of my keystrokes plan to pick up flowers today from one of our seven flower farmers at your Ballard Farmers Market, like KaYing, a.k.a., The Old Farmer. I suspect she will be channeling the spirit of Julia Ward Howe today, given what she’s seen in her time on earth.

My advice to you is to arrive early today for the best selection of flowers, and to pack some patience with you, as there will be lines. But given our beautiful weather lately, the flower selection this year for Mother’s Day is wonderful. So get mom some flowers that mean something. Get local flowers with a face behind them. She will appreciate what that means. After all, she gets that whole nurturing thing. Oh, and peace be with you!

Just in time for Mother’s Day, we celebrate the return of Finnriver Farm & Cidery to your Ballard Farmers Market! They produce a wonderful selection of artisan hard ciders and fruit dessert wines on their farm over in Chimacum in Jefferson County. They’ve been busy bottling ciders of 2012 vintage in recent weeks, and now it is time for you to treat mom with some… and yourself!

Today also marks the glorious return of Carnation’s Summer Run Farm for the 2013 season. Summer Run is famous for their beautiful and ginormous heads of lettuce, like this red leaf lettuce. Tired of living without great, local lettuce, or of eating that so-called “lettuce” from the Big Box stores all winter that seem devoid of flavor? Your long, dark winter is over! And doesn’t mom deserve a nice salad made by you tonight for dinner?

Speaking of great dinners for mom, how’s about some wild Washington king salmon, caught just off of the Washington Coast by Wilson Fish? They like to say, “It’s so fresh, it’s from the future!” And frankly, that’s not far from the truth. If you’ve never had this king salmon, and you are thinking of holding out for Copper River salmon at almost twice the price, you need to forget the TV hype and give this a try. Once you’ve tried it, you won’t go back to that over-priced stuff from Alaska with all the frequent flyer miles!

You know what goes great with king salmon? Asparagus, of course. And Alm Hill Gardens grows some of the sweetest, most tender and delicious asparagus anywhere right up on the Canadian border in Whatcom County. Grill your mom some of that salmon, and side it with some of this asparagus, and you will be golden for the rest of the year!

And you know what goes great with asparagus? Green garlic! Every spring about this time, farmers like Alvarez Organic Farms thin their garlic fields. They bring the thinned out baby garlic, know as green or spring garlic, to Market for us to enjoy. It is sweet, mildly garlicky, and you can eat the whole thing, from root to tip! Think of it like a green onion. You can grill them or sauté them, but I tend to like them best tossed in a big glass baking dish with olive oil, salt & pepper, some spring sweet onions, asparagus and wild morel mushrooms…

Or wild porcini mushrooms, if you like. Foraged & Found Edibles has them both today! In fact, the forests and coastline are providing us will all manner of deliciousness for mom’s day today, including wild watercress, goose tongue (that’s a plant, BTW), sea beans and more! So, stop by Foraged & Found, and grab some indigenous local goodness!

Today seems like as good a day as any to get that strawberry patch started for mom. And Red Barn Farm has these beautiful strawberry plants for it! They also have raspberry plants, cabbage starts and plenty of other great things for your garden.

And if tomatoes, ripe from the vine in your yard or on your deck or porch, are the stuff of your dreams, check in with Stoney Plains Organic Farm. They have tomato plants in an amazing selection of varieties from which to choose, as well as racks and racks of other goodies for the planting!

Don’t forget bread for mom’s dinner! And it is now olive fougasse season at Tall Grass Bakery. This stuff is so good, I can eat a whole loaf in a single sitting. Just don’t dillydally getting to Market today if you want any. This stuff, like many of today’s featured items, will sell out early, and you really don’t want to have to explain to mom that you don’t have any because you slept in, do you?

Finally, let us not forget dessert! Bring mom one of the best pies on earth from Deborah’s Homemade Pies. Made with local flour and lots of other local ingredients, there are many flavors from which to choose, as long as you get here early enough!

There is plenty more local deliciousness waiting for you today at your Ballard Farmers Market. Just check What’s Fresh Now! for a more complete accounting of what is in season right now.

Please remember bring your own bags every Sunday, as Seattle’s single-use plastic bag ban is now in effect. Also, please take note of our new green composting and blue recycling waste receptacles throughout your Ballard Farmers Market, and please make an effort to use them correctly. Each container has what’s okay to put in it pictured right on the lid. Please do not put the wrong materials in, because that drives up the cost of recycling and composting, and it can result in the entire container being sent instead to a landfill. Your understanding and cooperation are appreciated.

Sunday, May 5th: We Celebrate Cinco de Mayo with the Return of Alvarez Organic Farms… And Other Deliciousness!

Zachary D. Lyons — Sat, 04 May 2013 23:54:40 +0000

It seems every country’s lore includes some historic battle against a superior foe that ultimately turned the tide in favor of the seemingly weaker party — be that a sudden shift in the balance of military might, or just a symbolic victory that emboldened the weaker force with a strengthened morale and confidence that became so infectious as to ultimately lead to the demise of the greater power. The American Revolution had George Washington’s crossing of the Delaware River. The Irish Revolution had the Easter Rising. And Mexico had Puebla, where on May 5, 1861, its forces were victorious against a far superior French army twice the size of the Mexican force.

Wait. What? French army? See, that’s the thing right there. Most American’s think Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexican Independence Day. It does not. That is September 16. 1810. But the Mexican pride in that great victory over the invading French during the U.S. Civil War is still alive today, if only mostly in the U.S. But still, if you do not count yourself as a Mexican-American, please take a little time this evening, whilst you swill margaritas and eat salsa and chips, to at least express a little “booyah” for our neighbors to the south, as they have just as impressive a history of kicking European Imperialist bottom as we do. That said, seems as good a time as any to welcome back for the first time this year yet another glorious gift to us from the people of Mexico, Alvarez Organic Farms. They’ll have plenty of organic asparagus today, as well as other deliciousness!

You know what goes great with asparagus? Morel mushrooms, that’s what! I like tossing the two into a baking dish together with some olive oil and roasting them in a hot oven until tender. And if you can get your hands on some spring sweet onions, add them, too! Foraged & Found Edibles says they’ll have plenty of these wild beauties today. Enjoy!

Mmm. Just thinking about some of that asparagus and morels alongside a nice, seared-rare albacore tuna from Fishing Vessel St. Jude. It is the first Sunday of the month, and that means it’s tuna day at your Ballard Farmers Market! Stop by, say ‘hi’ to Joyce, and pick up some frozen loins, some canned deliciousness, and maybe a little smoked, if you’re lucky.

Cauliflower is mysterious stuff for many folk. I mean, does it just grow in this big, round, flower-esque head? It’s not exactly a crop most of us grow in our backyards, after all, so how would we know? Well, take a look at this photo. This is a beautiful head of cauliflower in the field that has been over-wintered and is ready for harvest at Nash’s Organic Produce. And the white head of the cauliflower isn’t the only tasty bit. The cauliflower leaves are also delicious! Now that you know that they exist, beat thee a path to Nash’s and get thee some! (Of both, that is.)

Mt. Townsend Creamery is celebrating the birth of a new cheese, Black Crack Pepper Jack. It is kind of the result of an experiment they did over in Port Townsend — and after all, aren’t more great discoveries and creations — so there is a limited supply currently. But this stuff rocks! It’s dangerous, in fact. I could eat a lot of it. It is creamery and rich, with a beautiful punch of freshly cracked black peppercorns — a perfect marriage. Get some while you can, as it may be some time before they make more.

This is nira. It is from Gaia’s Natural Goods, and it tastes like a cross between garlic and onions. Use it like chives in salads, to garnish meat or fish, or add it to juices. It is mild in flavor, but delicious nevertheless. And it is another one of those Asian crops you won’t find on other many tables. Enjoy!

I still assert that Chinese spinach is the most beautiful vegetable, but red vein sorrel is close behind. How cool looking is this stuff? But it’s hard to find. Now’s your chance to grow it yourself! Cascadian Edible Landscapes has these lovely little pots with red vein sorrel plants all ready for you to add to you garden. But put them in with your other perennial herbs, as it, too, is a perennial.

Mom’s love earl grey tea jelly, and Mothers Day is just a week away. Deluxe Foods has these lovely jars of it, all ready for you to present to mom at breakfast next Sunday, so you’ll get the day started off right. Cuz remember… when mom’s happy, everybody’s happy!

It is the start of a new month, and that means a new Tamale-of-the-Month from Patty Pan Grill! Yessir. This month, they are offering Asparagus & Smoked Salmon Tamales. Okay, maybe they are the most Mexican-sounding flavor, but so what? I mean, it’s not like Mexicans limit their diets to what is on the menu at Azteca, right? We didn’t invent seasonal eating here! The organic asparagus is from ACMA Mission Orchards, and the smoked salmon is from Loki Fish, both right here at your Ballard Farmers Market as well. So how’s about celebrating the Mexican kicking of French Imperialist behind with a few of these babies?!?

Ascents Candle Company is taking a break from your Ballard Farmers Market after Mothers Day, so Julianna can try to spend one summer enjoying being a mother with her two little ones… and catching up. Never fear. She’ll be back in September. But now’s a good time to stock up on her gorgeous, non-toxic candles, available both scented and unscented. And they make for great Mothers Day gifts, too!

There is plenty more local deliciousness waiting for you today at your Ballard Farmers Market. Just check What’s Fresh Now! for a more complete accounting of what is in season right now.

Sunday, April 28th: Pasture-Raised Chicken, Organic Asparagus, Cardoons & Adorable Little Lettuces!

Zachary D. Lyons — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 02:07:03 +0000

I remember my first Growing Things Farm chicken way back in 1999. I drove out to the farm in East King County on a rainy, muddy November day and picked it up, fresh, to bring up to my family in Bellingham for Thanksgiving dinner. It was the first time my family had ever had chicken instead of turkey on that holiday. And boy, howdy, were we thankful! My dad, who grew up on a farm, was thrilled to eat a chicken that tasted like, well, a chicken! And I, for the first time, learned what a chicken was supposed to taste like. We’ve been eating chickens at Thanksgiving ever since! Well, Michaele has a fresh harvest of chickens today at your Ballard Farmers Market, so head on up to the 22nd Avenue end of the Market an grab one or three, and enjoy real chicken! You can thank me later. (Oh, BTW, there is a difference between “pasture-raised” and pasteurized.”)

Been looking for certified organic asparagus? ACMA Mission Orchard has it! In fact, did you know that all of ACMA’s crops are now certified organic? Yup! So stop by and get your asparagus on today, and grab some apples, while you’re at it. Oh, asparagus, we love you so! Especially roasted in a hot oven with morel mushrooms from Foraged & Found Edibles and some green sweet onions, or grilled on the barby.

Under the heading of, “those are friggin’ adorable,” come these little heads of Tom Thumb lettuce from One Leaf Farm today at your Ballard Farmers Market. One Leaf loves growing all manner of lovely lettuce varieties, and this early spring lettuce is so sweet and crunchy — you know you’ve missed it all winter long. Look also for Little Gem lettuce, as well radishes!

Have you met the new lineup of link sausages from Stokesberry Sustainable Farm? They are made using Stokesberry’s wonderful forrest-raised pork by Link Lab Artisan Meats in Wallingford. They come in three varieties, from left to right above – Shiitake & Sage, Fremont Beer Bratwurst and Chipotle Tequila. Link Lab’s Fremont Beer Brats recipe is perhaps the best bratwurst recipe in Seattle, I dare say. So get thee to Stokesberry, and get your sausage on! Just save me a package of brats!

No, this is not rhubarb. It is cardoon. A member of the artichoke family (not to be confused with Jerusalem artichokes, which are not related to artichokes at all, but are in the sunflower family), they grow tall and put out big, brilliant artichoke flowers that are edible. However, cardoon is most commonly harvested for the long stalks of its leaves, which are cooked by braising them in liquid. Like all things artichoke-y, cardoon is favored in Italy and throughout Southern Europe. Pick some up from Oxbow Farm today and experiment with it!

This is rhubarb! This rhubarb is grown by Sidhu Farms in Orting, along the Puyallup River — the most prolific rhubarb growing region in the United States. Rhubarb is technically a vegetable, though it seems most commonly used as an ingredient for desserts, which may explain why the State of New York reclassified it as a fruit in 1947. Of course, it makes for great sauces for savory dishes, too, as well as fabulous cocktails. But let’s face it — rhubarb crisp is a reason unto itself to live!

Ah, carrots, how we have missed you! But carrots are slowly returning to your Ballard Farmers Market. Colinwood Farms was the first this spring with these lovely specimens (above). and while more and more are coming each week, they are still in limited supply, so get here early, if you want any. Otherwise, when you show up at the Market Information Desk at 2 p.m. asking about carrots, we may have to tease you. Consider yourself warned.

Have you visited the newest prepared food vendor at your Ballard Farmers Market yet? Los Chilangos cooks up brilliant Mexican street food for breakfast and lunch every Sunday, using many ingredients from Market vendors. Their fish tacos are made with rockfish from Wilson Fish. Their pork comes from Olsen Farms. Their eggs are from Stokesberry Sustainable Farm. And they source cheese from both Samish Bay Cheese and Twin Oaks Creamery. Try finding another taqueria around here doing that!

Right next door to Los Chilangos, you will find fresh sodas from Soda Jerk Fresh Soda to quench your salsa-induced thirst. Like their newest flavor, Lime-Cilantro-Jalapeno. You can get a cup of soda to go, or you can get a growler to take home and enjoy. Growlers are a half-gallon, and Soda Jerk now has these nifty new reusable growler cozies, to keep your soda cool and well-carbonated until you get it back to your fridge. Plus, growlers are refillable! Bring it back next week and exchange it for a fresh bottle.

There is plenty more local deliciousness waiting for you today at your Ballard Farmers Market. Just check What’s Fresh Now! for a more complete accounting of what is in season right now.

Sunday, April 21st: Happy Earth Day Tomorrow! Let’s See What Lessons We Can Learn From Our Vendors About Respecting Mother Earth!

Zachary D. Lyons — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 22:49:43 +0000

Oysters on the half-shell, on the beach at Hama Hama Oyster Company. Photo courtesy Hama Hama Oyster Company.

Happy Earth Day! Most of us have a sense about your Ballard Farmers Market helping us tread a little lighter on our Mother Earth, but today, let’s take a look at many of the ways the Market’s vendors teach us about living more in harmony with our environment. Take oysters from Hama Hama Oyster Company, for instance. Oyster farming in our local waters requires clean water, and as such, this industry actually encourages us to keep Puget Sound cleaner. But did you know that our environmental sins from years ago, and seemingly unrelated to water pollution, are actually threatening our beloved bivalves today? You see, all that carbon we are pumping into the atmosphere from our coal power plants, our cars and our furnaces has to come down somewhere, and a lot of it is being absorbed into our oceans, where is settles to the bottom in an acidic soup. Now, the North Pacific currents are pushing all that acidic water right up into Puget Sound and Hood Canal, where it is beginning to dissolve oyster larvae and other shelled species before they can even get settled in the mud. It is called Ocean Acidification, and we all need to learn about it, change our habits — drive less, get more efficient cars, switch to electric heat pumps, etc. — and we need to Stop The Coal Trains from shipping more coal to China, where it will just make matters worse. If it isn’t good to burn here, we shouldn’t be giving it to them to burn there!

Plant a garden with local, organic veggie starts from Stoney Plains Organic Farm. Sure, we want you to visit us every Sunday all summer long for the best fresh, local produce anywhere, but if you are planning to plant your own garden, get your veggies starts here, too. That way, you’ll know how they were raised, and using what kind of seed. And the more food we can grow right here in Puget Sound, the less we have to import from other parts of the country and world!

Skip the nitrogen chemicals in synthetic fertilizers, and enrich your soil naturally with nitrogen-fixing cover crops. Nash’s Organic Produce offers a nice cover crop seed mix that you can toss about your garden to help draw the nitrogen your veggies will need right out of the air and ground. Then, when you turn it into the soil before your planting, it will breakdown, leaving all those nutrients right there in your garden to feed all your plants!

One Leaf Farm will have these lovely Pink Beauty radishes today, as well as Tom Thumb & Little Gem lettuce, at your Ballard Farmers Market. Did you know that One Leaf is only in its third year of operations? Yup. We are adding farms to King County — they are located in Carnation, for instance — and that means less need to import. During the WTO protests in Seattle back in 1999, visiting farmers from around the world taught me that the best thing we can do to help them in their countries is to buy local food here. That’s because when we buy imported produce, we are supporting a system of corporate agribusiness that takes over local farmland in other countries to grow large amounts of mono-cropped foods for the U.S. market. In the process, they force the local farmers, who are growing culturally relevant and organic foods for their local communities off of their land, resulting in lost crop diversity and food insecurity in regions of the world with very fertile farmland. So, Think Globally. Eat Locally!

Eat wild foods! Before European settlers came to Puget Sound, local Indian tribes practiced a form of agriculture that would be almost invisible to us today. They managed the native, wild edible plant and animal species on a grand scale, so that come berry season, mushroom seasons or time for a clam bake, they knew right where to find dinner. In that spirit, folks like Foraged & Found Edibles today try to protect their harvesting grounds, as their livelihoods also depend on them. So enjoy some wild morel mushrooms, stinging nettles or fern fiddleheads this week from your Ballard Farmers Market, and get back in touch with your wild side!

Keep your knives and tools sharpened and healthy, so they last longer, all while supporting an ancient artisan trade that does not required electricity! Your Knife Sharpening Guy will put a fresh edge on your kitchen knives, garden sheers, shovels and even your reel lawnmowers, all with a zero carbon footprint. There is no need for you to buy new stuff. Your old stuff can be made new again!

Support your local fishery! Washington does a very good job managing its commercial fisheries. So you know, when it’s caught in Washington waters, it is done so sustainably. Loki Fish catches Keta salmon, from which comes this Ikura, right here in Puget Sound. And this summer, they will also catch Pink Salmon here, too. Wilson Fish catches King Salmon along the Washington Coast. Your support of these local fishing vessels at your Ballard Farmers Market ensures their ability to keep catching the best fish around, and keep family traditions — and wages — alive, as well!

Support Puget Sound Appellation wineries, like Lopez Island Vineyards & Winery. Most folks think all the wine grapes in Washington grow east of the Cascades, but the truth is that there is a robust grape-growing region right here in Puget Sound! Lopez produces three certified-organic estate wines from their island-grown grapes, including Madeleine Angevine, Siegerrebe and Wave Crest White. These wines win many awards, and we are lucky to have them right here at your Ballard Farmers Market!

Cleanse your body, rejuvenate your soul, and reuse your bottle! Communi-Tea Kombucha let’s you do all three! This fermented tea beverage will give you a boost of energy, cure what ails you, and when you are ready for your next bottle, they will even take your old bottle back, wash it, and reuse it! Unfamiliar with kombucha? Try one of these handle 250 ml. bottles. This is the finest, freshest kombucha you will find anywhere!

Reuse your gold… or someone else’s, at least. That’s what Port Townsend jeweler Itali Lambertini does. Gold mining around the world is very toxic and destructive, and many of us are familiar with the proposed Pebble Mine in Bristol Bay, Alaska, that threatens to destroy the largest wild salmon spawning grounds left on earth — home to more than half of the planet’s remaining wild salmon. And yet, there is plenty of gold already in circulation, mined decades and even centuries ago. So why go to some generic jewelry store in a mall to get a ring made of virgin gold that is the same as a thousand other rings, when you can get a unique ring, made with recycled gold, made by a local artist, right here at your Ballard Farmers Market? I mean, it’s not just the thought that counts. The materials and craftsmanship count, too!

Oxbow Farm & Education Center is another King County farm, and besides bringing us amazing local veggies, like these pea vines, in season now, they also operate an educational program that teaches children and adults alike all about organic farming and its benefits, right in Duvall! Of course, supporting them also means you are keeping your dollars recirculating in our local economy, thus creating local, living-wage jobs, instead of exporting your dollars to another state or country. Your support of local jobs means that local farmers are able to support you right back, as they, too, support local businesses. You see, a rising tide floats all boats. We all succeed together… or the alternative.

Eat lower on the food chain! House of the Sun produces delicious, nutritious raw and vegan foods, like these awesome kale chips! They get their ingredients from Market farmers. They have a smaller carbon footprint, because they aren’t heating things to cook them. Not cooking foods preserves many nutrients that can be destroyed by cooking them. And you can get your savory and sweet snack on without having to go to the Big Box store to buys some over-packaged “food” made who knows where with who knows what!

Eat local honey! Local honey, like from our own Golden Harvest Bee Ranch, supports to protection of local bees, which do a lot of the heavy lifting around here, pollinating most of the crops we know and love here at your Ballard Farmers Market. But did you know that the bees themselves are in trouble? And if they are in trouble, we are in trouble. There’s a thing called Colony Collapse Disorder that has devastated honey bee populations far and wide. So remember, while supporting your local bee can help you will allergies and sweeten your tea, you should also learn more about CCD and what you can do to stop it.

Eat gluten-free! More and more Americans are finding they have gluten sensitivity. But that is no longer a life-sentence of really crappy baked goods. Not at your Ballard Farmers Market, at least. That’s because we have d:floured gluten-free bakery, makers of all manner of sweet and savory gluten-free deliciousness that does not skimp on flavor in its pursuit of gluten-free goodies. Take this pumpkin bread, for instance. I beseech thee to find another pumpkin bread around that is better than this! Quite simply, whether or not you are avoiding gluten, you will love everything on d:floured’s tables.

Detox your home! Ascents Candles makes their candles with natural oils, not petroleum products, which means you are not filling your home with toxic fumes when you burn them. Plus, they are scented with various natural essential oils that will help set the mood, whatever mood you are aiming for. And if you’re eating dinner and want no scent at all from your candles, they’ve got them, too. Because after all, Earth Day ultimately starts at home!

One more way to celebrate Earth Day every Sunday is to remember bring your own bags every Sunday, as Seattle’s single-use plastic bag ban is now in effect. Also, please take note of our new green composting and blue recycling waste receptacles throughout your Ballard Farmers Market, and please make an effort to use them correctly. Each container has what’s okay to put in it pictured right on the lid. Please do not put the wrong materials in, because that drives up the cost of recycling and composting, and it can result in the entire container being sent instead to a landfill. Your understanding and cooperation are appreciated.

There is plenty more local deliciousness waiting for you today at your Ballard Farmers Market. Just check What’s Fresh Now! for a more complete accounting of what is in season right now.