The nice weather looks like it is set to continue this week, and we have an exciting market planned to take advantage of it.

Vendors making appearances this week include Stephens Farms (with strawberries!) and Kelly’s Jelly (a new vendor with some neat jellies, including Habanero Pepper Jelly!) - you can see this week’s full vendor lineup here.

Lots of kid’s activities again this week.  Aria from Art a la Carte will be doing ‘green’ arts and crafts at the Kid’s Tent, while her pals from Dragon Theater Puppets will be offering face painting and animal balloons.  And TrackersPDX will be holding hands-on archery lessons for kids on the grass.  For more information, check out our children’s activities page.

Our Featured Vendors this week are Old House Dahlias and Sprig and Sprout.  Mark from Old House Dahlias will be giving tuber lessons at his booth at 4:30 and 5:30, and will be offering some great deals on bulbs.  Christina from Sprig and Sprout will be offering free tomato starts to the first 20 customers that come by.

As a reminder, we offer our SNAP customers a $5 match in free tokens for the first $5 they withdraw from their card.  You can learn more here or at our information booth on market day.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday!

Harvey, owner of Old House Dahlias, began growing a few varieties of the oft-electric, always vibrant flowers in his backyard in Southeast Portland in 2003. Since then, the business has really bloomed– pun, of course, intended– and Harvey now singlehandedly manages about 3 acres of Dahlias in more than 175 varieties. One acre is located in Portland’s South Waterfront district, another is in Corbett, Oregon, and the rest are still harvested in his yard.

Harvey’s fascination with Dahlias is not unfounded. In addition to the obvious aesthetic appeal of the big, bright, versatile flower, Harvey points out that Dahlias have tremendous staying power, “They don’t stop blooming. It’s not uncommon to have Dahlias on your Thanksgiving table.” Dahlias bloom from around August to late fall– and sure make for a much less somber centerpiece than acorn squash and dried corn!

A quick trip to the “Dahlia Varieties” section of the Old House Dahlia’s website (http://www.oldhousedahlias.com/) reveals an eclectic cornucopia of hundreds of pink, purple, orange, red, and white blossoms. Harvey describes one of his favorite Dahlias, the Holly Hills Spider Woman: “It has a wicked blood red cactus bloom with fringing white petals.” He also mentions the Harvey Coop, Venomes Obsidian, and Giraffe varieties as gander worthy. However, the real hot buy is the provocatively named (and colored) “I am a Hottie” breed, currently selling for half-price.

The transition from project to profession was in part a result of the enthusiastic gardening culture engendered in Portland, and the local appreciation for urban farming, “I just saw there was a good high market. People here love to garden.” But Harvey’s passion for the business is far from financial, “I was never in it to make a million dollars. I do it because I love what I do. And anyone that loves flowers is pretty good people.”

While Harvey looks left of rural when we meet, dressed from head to toe in light blue denim,   he informs me that he had not indeed grown up on a farm, nor anything close to it. Originally from Hillsboro, it was only later in life that Harvey decided to study the ways of the land, eventually quitting his day job to work on a dairy and learn how to prep soil. The ‘Dahlia Guy,’ as Harvey has been called, now adeptly synthesizes the urban and agricultural: his daily commute entails driving his tractor from Corbett to downtown Portland, and includes a jaunt over the Ross Island Bridge.

Harvey’s cut flowers can be found at the Moreland Farmers Market, as well as at Whole Foods, QFC, Beaumont Market, and City Market. His tubers can be acquired at select New Seasons, Garden Fever, Pistols, Beaumont Market in select locations, and both Portland Nurseries. Beginning in August or September, Harvey’s u-cut Dahlia field on the Southeast Waterfront near Meriweather will be open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays. Or, just drop on by Harvey’s house on 8005 SE Mill St. (from August to frost) on Saturdays and Sundays to buy Dahlias and/or tubers straight from his backyard.

Lila is a recent graduate of Reed College. She has a deep interest in exploring and writing about food from around the world.

With a degree in horticulture from UC Davis and years of gardening experience including professional stints at Colonial Williamsburg and the United States Botanical Garden, Christina doesn’t need any epithet to prove that she knows plants. The proof is in her on-point customer interaction. When a customer asks her whether or not he could plant a tomato plant in a pot without a drainage hole, she instantly replies with a smirk and a question, “Do you have a drill?” It took me a minute to realize that she was asking him to perform pot surgery, and make his own drainage hole.

Sprig and Sprout went into business in 2007, after Christina was inspired by a friend to turn her backyard into a greenhouse. Now encompassing 160 square feet of space, her greenhouse houses plants that are started with organic seeds (when available), grown in certified organic soil, and managed as a certified organic grower would. She believes that Portlanders appreciate locally grown food: “What could be more local than someone’s backyard?”

Most of the plants Christina grows are destined for the kitchen and include several varieties of tomatoes and peppers, as well as herbs like cilantro, dill, and fennel. The names of the different varieties of fruits and herbs offered at her stand at the Moreland Farmer’s Market are whimsical and enticing. The plants’ placards advertise lively breeds like the “Saucy Tomato”, “Confetti Ciantro”, “Apollo Arugala”, and “Rosemary Barbeque”.

While Sprig and Sprout continues to thrive, its owner has no current plans to expand the operation. “My backyard isn’t getting any bigger!” she quips. You can find Christina manning Sprig and Sprout’s bounty at the Moreland Farmer’s Market on Wednesdays and at the King Market on Sundays.

Lila is a recent graduate of Reed College. She has a deep interest in exploring and writing about food from around the world.

Recipe is adapted from the cookbook, Very Fond of Food: A Year in Recipes by Sophie Dahl

Ingredients:

Serves 2

• about 16 asparagus spears (less if they are running large) check out ProFarm Produce
• 2 eggs found fresh at Brookside Farms or Greenville Farms
• 1 lemon
• olive oil
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

1. Heat a cast-iron or heavy grill pan to medium-high heat and coat with olive oil. (You could also head outdoors and use a gas or charcoal grill.)
2. Prep the asparagus by trimming any tough ends.
3. Cook the asparagus in the grill pan for about 4-5 minutes per side. (If the spears are larger I like to cover them with a small foil tent so the insides cook a bit faster.)
   They are ready when they are slightly charred with grill marks and softened inside. After grilling set them aside.
4. While the asparagus is cooking boil the eggs. (Or do this in advance and then just peel them while the asparagus is grilling.) To boil, cover the eggs with cold water in a pot and bring to a boil. When a soft boil is reached cover and remove the pot from the heat. Let the eggs sit for 7-9 minutes then drain the hot water and plunge eggs into a bowl of cold water. You can then peel and roughly chop the eggs.
5. Assemble the duo by placing the asparagus on a plate and drizzling with a couple tablespoons of olive oil and both the zest and juice from the lemon. Cover the asparagus with the chopped egg and then top with a few pinches of salt and pepper.

A great addition is to also top with a bit of grated cheese. Aged Pecorino or Tomme from Black Sheep Creamery would work wonderfully. Another great upgrade would be to trade in the traditional sea salt seasoning for some Truffle Salt found at Springwater Farms.

All the farms listed above can be found on Wednesdays during the Moreland Farmers Market 2012 season.

We have a great lineup of vendors, and the weather looks like it will be pretty fantastic.

The Sellwood Middle School Jazz and Marimba Bands will be playing, and we will have a ton of exciting kids activities put on by Sellwood’s own Picassitos.  For more information, check out our events page.

Our Featured Vendor this week is Think Unique Gardens, which sells tomato and plant starts.  Suzanne from Think Unique will be demonstrating how to properly transplant tomato starts.  These free demos will be held at her booth at 4:45 and 6:00.

This year we will again be offering our SNAP customers a $5 match in free tokens for the first $5 they withdraw from their card.  You can learn more here or at our information booth on market day.

We look forward to seeing you on Wednesday!

An entire greenhouse at Think Unique is devoted to nearly 100 varieties of tomatoes that Suzanne bred from only 4 tomato starters in 1997. Like a good plant scientist, she constantly monitors their diet, water intake, heat exposure, and production value. And like a quirky gardener, she also plays music and OPB for them every day!

One of her current favorites is the Mortgage Lifter, which produces big pink tomatoes (up to 4 pounds) that have a better flavor than Brandeywines. According to Suzanne, ‘the Mortgage Lifter name comes from the tomato’s story: a woman found it growing in her yard one day, and they grew to be so big and delicious that she was able to sell a bunch to help pay her mortgage!’

Think Unique Gardens is essentially a one-woman operation (with occasional help from her teenage son and friends). Suzanne owns approximately 21 acres of mostly old-growth forest in Estacada, Oregon, which she moved to after working for Intel for 15 years. Her goal has always been to sustain herself on her farm’s bounty, and one day to live entirely ‘off the grid.’

In addition to growing tomatoes, she also grows a large assortment of vegetable starts, herbs, annuals, and perennials. Everything Suzanne grows is fertilized naturally, without chemicals. She uses manure from her chickens, turkeys, rabbit, geese and ducks and also adds kelp.

You can catch Suzanne and her plants at our market every week through July, as well as at the Hillsdale, Hollywood, and Lloyd Farmers Markets. You can also connect with her on her Facebook page.

Photo by Gloria Dawson

Ingredients:

• 2 large bunches of collard greens, chiffonaded, rinsed, and drained
• coarse sea salt
• 1/3 cup fresh orange juice
• 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2/3 cup raisins

Directions:

1. In a large pot over high heat, bring 3 quarts of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt. Add the collards and cook, uncovered, for 8 to 10 minutes, until softened.
2. Prepare a large bowl of ice water to cool the collards.
3. Remove the collards from the heat, drain, and plunge them into the bowl of cold
4. Water to stop the cooking and set the color of the greens. Drain.
5. In a medium sauté pan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute. Add the collards, raisins, and ½ teaspoon salt. Sauté for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
6. Add orange juice and cook for an additional 15 seconds. Do not overcook (collards should be bright green). Season with additional salt to taste if needed and serve immediately.

We are first and foremost a farmers market, so our focus is on fresh produce, cheese, baked goods, prepared food, flowers and nursery stock.  Our goal is to have a variety of different sized farms, both organic and conventional.  Then, we let you decide.  When shoppers keep coming back for more, farmers do well and they return, year after year.  There are a few things all the farms have in common:

1) 100% local – Only locally grown, caught or gathered products are allowed at the market.  Local includes Washington and Oregon.  It does not include California or Idaho.

2) Direct from the farm – All the farmers at the market grow what they sell.  Sometimes, farmers join together and a farmer will sell something grown on another farm.  We place limits on these arrangements.  A farmer can only sell products from one other farm and it must be less than 20% of their total sales.  Also, we require both farms to submit an application.  That way we know where the products are coming from, and so do you.

3) Honorable Claims:  When selling at the market, vendors can only make certifiable claims about their products (i.e. Certified Organic).  Uncertified claims (i.e. pesticide-free) are not allowed.

4) Vendors in good standing – All vendors must follow the market rules, including compliance with all health and safety laws.

It’s important to us to understand where our food comes from.  We ask all our farmers to describe their growing practices on their application and to give us copies of all appropriate licenses and certificates.  Ask at the information booth if you’d like to see them.  Or, ask the farmer directly.  If they aren’t with a customer they’ll tell you about their farm.

Adam, the Moreland Farmers Market Manager, spends considerable time getting to know all the vendors.  He even takes time out to visit some of the farms.  This is a great way to get to know the farmers better and to see their growing practices first hand.  To find out more about our farmers, check out our farmer profiles.

I also saw this as a way to make a deeper connection with the growers and producers of our local food. I grew up in a rural town and was used to working and interacting with small town farmers. Now that I am part of an urban community, I found myself looking for a place to build those same connections that came so easily out in the rural midwest.

My choice in becoming a market volunteer has fulfilled my initial aspirations. Every week I know I am contributing to something greater than myself that helps my community, as well as fostering my own need to feel closer to the source of my food.

I also found that after actually starting to volunteer at the market, there were so many more reasons to keep me coming back. I now view every week as a chance to interact with the people of the community that shop at the market. (And boy do we have a great group of market-goers!) Also, the most unanticipated benefit has been just getting to know and spend time with my fellow market volunteers. I never imagined how much I would look forward to working together with them each week.

My excitement is growing as the start of 2012 Moreland Farmers Market nears. I am looking forward to gathering together each week with a stellar group of farmers, producers, volunteers and community members.

I find that the rewards of volunteering at the market can be expansive and if you have be thinking about joining us, I sure hope you do!

The market starts May 9th – See you then!

By: Kristen Eberlin
2nd year MFM volunteer and current board member

Volunteers are essential – they staff the booth, take photos, blog and much more. Join us at Staccato Gelato on April 22nd at 3pm to find out more about volunteering.

The Moreland Farmers Market is kicking off its seventh season on May 9^th and we’re looking for a few good volunteers!

There are many ways to get involved: you can help us move and lift things with market set-up or tear-down, you can talk with and help people at our information booth, you can write an article or a post for our website, and you can help us organize our fun events.

To find out more and meet our great crew, come to our volunteer information session at Staccato Gelato on Sunday, April 22^nd at 3:00.  Staccato Gelato is located at 1540 Southeast Bybee Boulevard.  If you can’t make the meeting but are still interested in being a volunteer, or if you have any questions, contact Adam at adam@morelandfarmersmarket.org