Killarney Farm owners relish chance to mingle

Two hours after opening for business, Paul Smith and Ellen Scriven’s produce stand at the Kootenai County Farmers’ Market is half empty. All the carrots are gone. So are the peas and potatoes. A few heads of red and green cabbage and some greens remain.

“The latecomers don’t get anything,” a customer grumbles in jest.

Indeed, savvy shoppers and fans of the organic produce grown by Smith and Scriven know that if you want part of that morning’s harvest, you had better be among the first in line.

“The first guy in bought all of the (shelling) peas,” Scriven said of a recent Saturday morning rush.

Scriven and Smith own Killarney Farm, a 6-acre operation out of Rose Lake, Idaho. They’ve been selling their organic produce at the market since it opened in 1986.

For many, they symbolize a true farmers’ market: the opportunity for customers and farmer to interact.

Though they sell wholesale at a few health and natural foods stores, the bulk of their business comes from the two market days and one farm stand day where they sell directly to customers.

“Our preference is the market,” Scriven said. “It’s a wonderful market. It provides such a great opportunity to come out and meet with customers.”

Smith added, “Both Ellen and I, we really couldn’t work for someone else. It (selling at the market) supports an independent lifestyle.”

It wasn’t always that way.

Scriven said it took time for their endeavor to pay off. “We sold for five years before we were making a living off it.”

Now, they’re not only making a living they enjoy, they are helping others learn the organic way. They run an apprentice program each summer, sharing what they’ve learned with others. Some of their students have gone on to start their own organic farms.

Apprentices help with the harvest each market morning as well as work in the gardens during the week.

“By doing direct sale it’s a lot more work and takes a lot more energy on our part,” Scriven said.

That dedication is part of what drives customers to the Killarney Farm booth.

One regular who declined to give her name said she’s been shopping at Killarney’s booth for seven years. She said she likes that it’s organic. “It’s fresh. They’re nice people. They do good things for the community,” she said. “I’m supporting a good way of life.”

Ann Bohart, who owns The Pizza Shoppe in Coeur d’Alene, stopped by to pick up a box Smith had set aside for her. When he opened the lid, the scent of fresh basil filled the air.

“I get to go make 16 pounds of pesto,” Bohart said, explaining that she buys her basil from Killarney throughout the season and then makes and freezes pesto to supply her restaurant during winter. She’s been buying basil from Killarney for four years.

“They raise our basil for us. It’s organic. Our customers get this,” she said, proudly.

As the market veterans, Scriven and Smith have seen tastes change. When they started, even romaine lettuce was considered exotic by most people. Today, Scriven said, there is a lot more awareness of the different greens available. Fennel, she said, is growing more popular as are fava beens and edamame.

Last year, she said, they tried to sell purple cauliflower, but it didn’t go over too well.

July is a good month for shoppers who want variety. A lot of produce, especially berries, begin to ripen. This month, Scriven said, they will have raspberries, green beans, tomatoes, green peppers, summer squash, patty pan squash, celery, gooseberries, cucumbers, blueberries and currants in addition to the peas, carrots and potatoes they recently began harvesting. And she’ll even have some flowers from the garden to brighten any table.

Lettuce will be available all summer. “We plant lettuce once a week through the growing season,” Smith said.

With an hour still to go at the Saturday market, very little hasn’t sold. On their way out of town, Scriven and Smith will stop by The Market Café in Coeur d’Alene to see if the chef wants any of the remaining produce. The chef, Smith said, “really likes to support us.”

That means a lot to them. Scriven said she wishes more chefs would shop the farmers markets.

But her biggest complaint?

“Not enough hours in the day,” she said.

On Saturday market days, they’re up at about 4 a.m. harvesting and getting ready for the hour-long trek to the market.

Scriven sighs happily that the market is almost over. The next day is Sunday.

“We get to sleep in,” she said. “Till about 6 or 6:30.”