Sunday, May 26th: Strawberries, Cherries, Cucumbers, Pea Vines, Frisee, Green Garlic, Halibut & Sticky Buns, for Starters!

First-of-the-season organic strawberries from Tiny’s Organic Produce. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

It’s Memorial Day Weekend, Ballard faithful, and that signals the traditional start to summer ’round these parts, if not the actual start, which does not arrive until July 5th. But as we already realize, this year just doesn’t seem to want to be as dreary, cold and wet as the past three, so let’s get this party started right now! To that end, we present the earliest arrival of organic strawberries in recent memory! Yep, Tiny’s Organic Produce began harvesting these beauties this past week, a couple of weeks ahead of schedule. Woohoodillydoo!!! And just to assure you I ain’t pullin’ yer leg, I took the above photo on Friday at our Madrona Farmers Market. I also made sure to do a little quality control, and these are about as sweet and delicious as strawberries should be allowed to be by law. Seriously. Go figure. So as long as no bridges between here and East Wenatchee collapse in the next few weeks, we are in the strawberries, baby!

Cucumbers from Colinwood Farms. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Oh, we’re just getting started, people! Yes, these are organic cucumbers, and yes, I did just take this photo in the last week. These cucumbers are from Colinwood Farms over in Port Townsend. Using their location in the Banana Belt — that area shielded from rain and clouds by the Olympic Mountains — and their greenhouses, Colinwood harnesses their bonus sun very effectively, and one of the results is cucumbers in May. (Yes, it is still May!)

First-of-the-season Burlat cherries from Lyall Farms. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Strawberries, check. Cucumbers, check. Cherries?!? Check! These are first-of-the-season Burlat cherries from Lyall Farms. See, they have this orchard over in Prosser in an area that gets earlier and more heat units in the year than anywhere else in the state. Plus, that orchard is loaded with some varieties of cherries that ripen much earlier than most. The result is that Lyall gets a two to three week jump on everyone else in the cherry department. Add to that our milder weather than in recent years, and it’s go time! And again, I took this photo on Friday, and I did quality control, too. These are the real deal, folks! Oh, and it is last call for Lyall’s cured onions and sweet potatoes until fall, so grab the last of them while you can!

Green garlic from Magana Farms. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Oh, don’t give me that sad puppy dog face that says you were expecting to see a photo of tomatoes now instead of this green garlic from Magana Farms. This stuff is pure gold this time of year. With a Market full of tender young greens, asparagus, mushrooms and other deliciousness that pairs well with garlic, green garlic is a magical treat! When farmers thin their garlic fields in the spring, this is what we get. Use the entire thing, from ball to the tips of the stalks. Toss it in where you would garlic, and what you get is not only your garlic flavor, but a sweet, grassy taste of spring unique to green garlic. The only people who know not of what I speak are those who have not tried it. The rest of us are the ones breezing past you to grab a bunch, so we can add it to everything we cook!

Fresh halibut from Wilson Fish. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

And what’s this? It’s fresh halibut caught off the coast of Washington by Wilson Fish… just for the halibut. This is the freshest, most delicious halibut you will ever eat. These fish aren’t as big as those caught in Alaska, and the result is a superior flesh. Plus, it comes with no frequent flyer miles, freezer burn or having been trucked “live” in a tanker down the Alaska Highway for four days. (Really. They do that!) Grill a piece tonight, along with some asparagus, green garlic and green onions on the barby, and you will be a very happy camper.

Pea vines from Gaia’s Harmony Farm. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Another spring treat is pea vines, These are from Gaia’s Harmony Farm from up in Snohomish. These are great quickly sauteed with some of that green garlic in olive oil. Gaia’s is also making fresh vegetable juice using their produce, and that of other farms at the market, to make a drink that please your palate and your body!

Ground beef from Skagit River Ranch. Photo copyright 2012 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Speaking of Memorial Day barbecues, don’t forget to pick up some burger patties or a package of ground beef from Skagit River Ranch today. Or maybe you’d prefer some of their great sausages, steaks or chops on the grill. Grab it today, thaw it in the fridge overnight, and grill it up nicely tomorrow!

Frisee from One Leaf Farm. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Some lovely, wilted frisee from One Leaf Farm tossed with some of Skagit’s bacon and some of Twin Oak’s feta sounds pretty good right now. Bitter plus salty equals divine. One Leaf also has their first harvest of beautiful, tendor collard greens and kale today, too, plus Japanese wax turnips so tasty, you might finish off the bunch before you get home, so please get two!

Last-of-the-season fresh apple cider from Martin Family Orchards. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Just a few weeks left of fresh cider from Martin Family Orchards. Their 2012 apple harvest is running out, and they won’t have cider again until fall. Grab a jug for your Memorial Day picnic, and enjoy one last sweet taste of fall before summer begins in ernest.

A veritable cornucopia of pickliciousness from Purdy Pickle. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Pickles. No, I am not using a term of endearment here, though I suppose I could be, since the humungous variety of pickles made from local ingredients by Purdy Pickle is rather endearing! And you will need a few jars for your Memorial Day picnics — dilly chips for your burgers, asparagus for the fun of it, and carrots to use as swizzle sticks in your cocktail! You can thank me later.

Sticky buns from Tall Grass Bakery. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Get your day started right tomorrow, or finish off dinner tonight, with one or six of these sticky buns, or maybe a cinnamon roll, from Tall Grass Bakery. Of course, Tall Grass has a spectacular selection of fresh artisan breads to round out your barbecues and picnics this weekend, too. Just get here early enough that your favorites aren’t sold out already!

Asparagus from Collins Family Orchards. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

We finish off this week’s Memorial Day Weekend installment with some gorgeous asparagus from Collins Family Orchards in Selah. You will obviously need asparagus for every meal in your immediate future, so grab a bunch of bunches, eh?

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 19th: Blessed Are The Cheese Makers! Our Annual Salute To Local Cheese!

Cheese maker Heather Howell of Twin Oaks Creamery holds up a wheel of her flavored cheddar. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Monday is Seattle Chefs Collaborative’s 7th Annual Washington Cheese Meet & Greet, and event that introduces Washington’s great cheese makers to Seattle’s great professional culinary community, while also raising scholarship funds to educate Seattle’s chefs and culinary students about farming and local food production. And each year, I take this opportunity to salute the cheese makers at your Ballard Farmers Market, most of whom will be in attendance at Monday evening’s event. Let’s start this salute with one of our newest, and our most diversified dairy farms, Twin Oaks Creamery. Located in Chehalis, Twin Oaks raises dairy goats and cows, and from the milk of their animals, they produce bottled milk, yogurt, fresh cheeses (chevre, fromage blanc, feta, curds, etc.) and aged raw-milk cheeses (romano, cheddar, gruyere, etc.). Wonderful stuff. Their feta and goat yogurt are necessities in my house.

Cheese maker Matthew Day from Mt. Townsend Creamery in one of his four cheese caves in Port Townsend. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Mt. Townsend Creamery has been producing some of Washington’s finest artisan cheeses in Port Townsend for years, and selling it directly to you right here at your Ballard Farmers Market! From their simply perfect truffled fromage that, paired with a Grateful Bread Bakery bagel and some Loki Fish coho lox is a little slice of heaven, to their Seastack and Cirrus cheeses that have won just about every cheese award out there, there is bound to be a cheese variety amongst their dozen or so that will please you. And if you are anything like me (for which I apologize), you’ll like all of them!

Victor Jensen in the aging room at Golden Glen Creamery. Photo copyright by Mandy Alderink, courtesy of Golden Glen Creamery.

Golden Glen Creamery is an old-school dairy up in the Skagit River Delta in Bow. For years, they’ve been making cheddar and gouda cheeses, as well as fromage blanc, feta, fresh curds, and even butter. Golden Glen was one of the first local dairy farms to convert to direct marketing and making cheese, helping launch what is nothing short of a cheese making explosion in Washington.

Samish Bay Cheese makes a variety of delicious farmstead cheeses. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Another of Washington’s early cheese makers is Samish Bay Cheese, also in Bow. In fact, it is just a mile or two away from Golden Glen. Samish Bay, too, once made gouda cheeses. Goudas, which come from the Netherlands, found a natural home in Skagit and Whatcom Counties, where large Dutch populations settled and now produce the second largest number of tulip bulbs on earth, behind the Netherlands itself. But Samish Bay changed course several years back, and the result is a collection of award-winning fresh cheeses, like their Ladysmith. This is a lovely, delicate cheese that will thrill your palate. Samish Bay’s queso fresco is now featured on the menus of both Patty Pan Grill and Los Chilangos right here in your Ballard Farmers Market. And try some of their flavored and aged cheeses. Part of the beauty of cheese is that, as it ages, the very same cheese develops an entirely new flavor and texture. Enjoy.

The aging cave at Rosecrest Farm. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

This is the aging cave at Rosecrest Farm in Chehalis, just a few miles away from Twin Oaks Creamery. Rosecrest has a huge red barn that was built in 1914, and originally, the farm produced beef. Sharon & Gary McCool took over the farm around 2006 and moved their dairy operation there, producing organic milk, most of which it sells to Organic Valley, or to be made into butter by Rose Valley Creamery. But they keep some to make Washington’s only Swiss styles of cheese. These rich and buttery aged, raw-milk cheeses are spectacular, and you will develop a habit. They are aged in this wonderful room that was originally used as a meat locker for the previous farm, which sold beef from the farm. As you can see from this photo, the door to the room is incredibly thick, as are the walls, which results in the room maintaining a contant temperature of 50 degrees, and a relative humidity of about 90 percent, year-round, without the need for mechanical refrigeration — perfect for aging cheese. Taste the results today at your Ballard Farmers Market!

Fresh chevre from Port Madison. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Steve Wilson of Port Madison Farms retired from cheese making last fall, much to the dismay of the faithful fans of his chevre and aged goat cheeses. But as it turns out, Steve’s wife, Beverly, didn’t get the retirement memo. Lucky us! Port Madison returned two weeks ago to your Ballard Farmers Market. Enjoy the cheeseliciousness while you can, though, just in case that retirement memo does finally show up!

Farmstead cheeses from Sea Breeze Farm. Photo copyright 2012 by Zachary D. Lyons.

Sea Breeze Farm doesn’t always have cheese, but when they do, you will likely find this lovely tomme atop their case. It is made with the raw milk they produce on their farm on Vashon Island, and they age it in their cheese and wine cellar, a wonderfully dark and cool room under the farmhouse ideal for aging both products. Stepping into a cellar such as theirs is like stepping back in time. How, you ask? Simple. Wine and cheese making are two of the oldest forms of food preservation on earth. All you needed was a cool, dark, slightly damp cave to age them, and you could extend the life of your grapes and milk for months, even years. And the best cheese-aging caves are long inoculated with the bacteria and molds that have evolved there to make that cave’s cheeses unique.

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 12th: Happy Mother’s Day!

KaYing, The Old Farmer, arranging one of her beautiful bouquets of flowers. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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!

Sparkling ciders from Finnriver Farm & Cidery. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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!

Red Leaf Lettuce from Summer Run Farm. Photo copyright 2012 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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?

Fresh, wild, Washington king salmon from Wilson Fish. Photo copyright 2010 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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!

Asparagus from Alm Hill Gardens. Photo copyright 2011 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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!

It’s green garlic season at Alvarez Organic Farms! Photo copyright 2012 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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…

Wild porcini mushrooms from Foraged & Found Edibles. Photo copyright 2012 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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!

Strawberry plants from Red Barn Farm. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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.

Tomato plants from Stoney Plains Organic Farm. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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!

Olive fougasse from Tall Grass Bakery. Photo copyright 2012 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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?

A variety of pies from Deborah’s Homemade Pies. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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

Whole pastured chicken from Growing Things Farm. Photo copyright 2009 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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.”)

Organic asparagus from ACMA Mission Orchards. Photo copyright 2012 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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.

Tom Thumb lettuce from One Leaf Farm. Photo copyright 2012 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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!

Stokesberry Sustainable Farm sausages by Link Lab. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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!

Cardoon from Oxbow Farm. Photo copyright 2012 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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!

Rhubarb from Sidhu Farms. Photo copyright 2012 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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!

Carrots from Colinwood Farms. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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.

Al Pastor tacos from Los Chilangos. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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!

Growlers and growler coolers from Soda Jerk Fresh Soda. Photo copyright 2013 by Zachary D. Lyons.

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.

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.

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.